Life at Las Noches High
by MJLCoyoteStarrk
Summary: High School: the miseries of adolescence, having to avoid the stuck-up hall monitor, being on your guard against pervs and bullies, and falling in love.  Those were the "Good Ole Days".  Theme: "Don't You  Forget About Me " by Simple Minds
1. Chapter 1: First Day

**Life at Las Noches High**

**Chapter 1: First Day**

"Starrk…Starrk…Starrk, it's time to get up," the girl said, trying to wake her brother. "STAAAAARRRRRRRRRRK!" she shouted. However, her high shrill voice did not have the effect she hoped as her brother only snorted out another snore in response. "Come on, Starrk, wake up. It's time to get your lazy ass out of bed and get ready for school. You're supposed to show me around on my first day."

Starrk only yawned and waved his hand at her.

"Five more minutes," he muttered.

"Why do you ALWAYS have to make me do this the hard way?" his sister asked. Then a mischievous smile spread across her face and her eyes narrowed. "Of course, I don't necessarily mind."

She then elbowed her brother in the side. She knew her brother well enough to step back as he bolted up.

"OW, WHAT THE HELL? LILYNETTE, WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" he asked. Starrk was about average height and weight with shoulder-length brown hair and had a faded goatee.

"You wouldn't get up when I yelled at you," Lilynette said. "What was I supposed to do, hmmm?"

Starrk looked at her and covered his face with his left hand. He shook his head back and forth and sighed.

"You better get ready, Lily," he said. Lilynette looked at him, and Starrk could tell that she was annoyed. "Well, it is your first day and I don't want you to be late. So you better hurry," Starrk said as he got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom.

_This is just what I need,_ Lilynette thought, _the laziest man on Earth telling me to hurry and get ready._

Lilynette went back to her room to finish getting ready. She could hear the water running in the bathroom and shook her head. Sometimes she felt annoyed at her brother, but she still loved him.

A few minutes after waking up, Starrk made his way from his room to the kitchen. He was wearing a slightly rumpled, white dress shirt and a pair of loose khaki pants. Starrk loved to dress comfortable and informal and so did not bother tucking his shirt into his pants and his grey school jacket was open. The only shoes that he bothered wearing were comfortable loafers that he could just slip on, although he did sometimes wear sneakers.

He went to one of the cabinets and took out two bowls and picked up the box of cereal next to him on the counter. As he was getting the milk and orange juice from the refrigerator, Lilynette walked in. She was wearing a navy blue mini skirt and a white t-shirt. Like her brother, she was wearing her school blazer unbuttoned.

As they sat down to their breakfast their uncle walked into the kitchen. He was slightly taller than Starrk and his closely-cropped black hair was combed close to his head, except for two trouble spots that stuck up like horns. His van-dyke beard and mustache were neat and trimmed.

"Good morning, did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," Starrk said.

"I'll say you did," Lilynette muttered.

"So, Lily, today's your first day being in high school. Are you nervous?" Dordoni asked.

"Nah, not really," Lilynette said, shrugging. However, even though she didn't look nervous, she felt nervous.

"Now Starrk, I want you to keep a close watch on your sister and make sure that nothing happens to her. I would hate for anything bad to happen to her."

"Not a problem," Starrk said.

"Alright, well, I have to get going. Mr. Arruruerie wants me to go over the financial reports. You two have a good day, and I'll see you when I get back."

"See ya, Uncle Dordoni," Lilynette said. "Tell Mr. Arruruerie that we say 'Hi'."

"Will do," Dordoni said and rushed out the front door, making sure that the front door closed behind him.

"Well," Starrk said, "I think Uncle Dordoni has the right idea. Finish up and we'll get going."

Lilynette nodded and finished her breakfast quickly. When she finished, Starrk picked up her bowl and put it into the dishwasher. He grabbed his backpack and Lilynette grabbed her own messenger bag. Starrk put his hand on her sister's shoulder and they made their way to Starrk's dusty grey Cadillac.

_**Grimmjow**_

The light blue Jeep Pantera pulled into the school parking lot and stopped in one of the parking spots. The tall and well-toned man stepped out and brushed his light-blue-dyed hair back. He wore his dress shirt unbuttoned, showing his white undershirt, and a pair of blue jeans. He looked around him and stopped.

"You gotta be fucking kidding," he growled as he noticed that he was the first student there. "This is so…lame."

He sighed and then a white minivan drove up next to him and stopped. In the driver's seat, he saw a tall, thin, rather handsome boy with long, blonde hair who was wearing a Hawaiian shirt under his unbuttoned blazer. The back door opened and a tall, thin man stepped out. His face had a stern expression and his long black hair was tied back in a braid that hung over his right shoulder. He wore the more traditional school uniform of dark-colored dress pants, white dress shirt, tie, and grey blazer buttoned.

"Good, we're early," the stern student said as the blonde-haired man got out.

After the tall, stern man got out, three more students got out. One of them was a rather well-muscled man with broad shoulders; his red hair was unkempt on one side but shaved close to his head on the other. Another was rather tall and rather fat. His dark-brown hair was cut in a bowl style and framed his round, wide face. Behind him came a shorter, scrawny boy with long, unkempt light-yellow hair that stuck out as though he had been electrified. The two wore the more traditional uniform, only minus the ties and they kept their blazers unbuttoned.

"Hee hee hee hee, hey, Yylfordt, your mom's got big boobs, hee hee hee hee," the short and thin one said.

"Yeah, huh huh huh huh, she's hot," the large, fat one said.

"Come on bro," Yylfordt said, "you've been saying that all morning. It's getting kinda annoying."

"No shit," the broad-shouldered boy with red hair said. "It's kinda creeping me out."

"Hee hee hee, we don't care about that, Edorad, do we Nakeem?"

"Huh huh huh, no we don't, Di Roy," Nakeem said, laughing.

"Hey, Yylfordt," the blue-haired student said, "what gives? You're usually one of the last ones here."

"Oh, hey Grimmjow," Yylfordt said. "Yeah, bro, I would be, except for 'Mr. Prim-and-Proper' over here," he said and gestured to the tall, stern-looking man who was pulling at his braid.

"Yylfordt, Grimmjow, it's the first day of classes and I don't wish to be late. You'll just have to deal with it," he said and made his way to the front doors.

"Come on, bro, just chill," Yylfordt said.

"Yeah, Shawlong, life's too short to have a stick shoved up your ass all the time," Grimmjow said.

Shawlong just ignored them and entered the building. Edorad looked back at Grimmjow and Yylfordt and shrugged before walking into the school. Di Roy and Nakeem entered, shoving one another and laughing like a pair of lunatics.

"One of these days, those two are going to get themselves killed," Yylfordt said gesturing towards Di Roy and Nakeem.

"So, where's your li'l brother?" Grimmjow asked.

"He got one of those electrical bikes like they have in Europe. He's been using it for about a month and now and really loves it. That means that I don't have to cart him around with me…thank God."

As he said that, they saw a silver and black Rolls-Royce Murciélago roll into the parking lot and park under a large oak tree.

"Oh shit, looks like the Goth King, Ulquiorra, has just arrived."

The boy who got out was shorter than Grimmjow and was extremely thin. His unkempt medium-length black hair clashed with his extremely pale face. He wore the traditional school uniform, but his dress shirt and pants were jet black. His tie was black with crimson stripes and a gold tie-pin that was designed to look like a bat. Perhaps his most distinguishing features were his emerald-green eyes, the black lipstick he used on his upper lip and the two trails of turquoise make-up descending from his eyes.

"Damn, bro, what is he wearing? Is he coming from a funeral or is he on his way to a Satanic Mass?" Yylfordt asked.

"He's probably dressing for both," Grimmjow said.

Ulquiorra must have heard them because he looked towards them. His face rarely showed any expression other than his constant frown.

"Shouldn't you two pieces of trash get inside?" he asked in his calm, monotonous voice. "Of course, you might be trying to achieve a record in fastest time to obtaining a detention."

"Bite me, Bat Boy!" Grimmjow shouted.

"Spare me the melodrama, Blueberry," Ulquiorra said and walked towards the school.

"Stuck up little prick," Grimmjow growled. "Who the hell does he think he is?"

"I hear ya, bro," Yylfordt said as the two made their way to the school. "I mean, just because he's from a rich family…"

They heard a car horn honking behind them. They turned and saw a dusty grey Cadillac driving by them and pulling into a parking spot. Grimmjow grinned; his exchange with Ulquiorra was forgotten, at least for now.

"Heh, I would know that car anywhere," he said as he saw the car's owner step out. "Hey, Starrk! What the hell kept your lazy ass?"

"Oh, hey, Grimmjow," Starrk said. "I was…"

"He was busy in bed," a shrill voice called out. "He was having some crazy wet dreams."

"Lilynette, that's inappropriate and not something that a young lady should say," Starrk said, somewhat startled at what she said.

"Aw, come on, Starrk, I'm 14 years old. I'm practically a grown woman."

"Doesn't matter, it's still inappropriate and…I DON'T have crazy wet dreams," Starrk replied, his voice lethargic.

"Dude, when the hell did Lily become such a pervert?" Grimmjow asked, trying to fight back the growing laughter.

"I have no idea," Starrk replied as they entered the school.

_**The Auditorium**_

The first order of business was for all of the students to gather in the auditorium to attend the mandatory introductory speech from the school's principal, Baraggan Luisenbarn. The incoming students would have to attend so that they would understand what was expected of them and to have a chance of seeing their teachers. The older students had to attend as well as a reminder of sorts for them.

"Argh…every year that old fart says the same thing," Grimmjow said, obviously annoyed.

"Eh, it doesn't bother me," Starrk said.

"Duh, because you sleep through it, just like you do with just about all of your classes."

"Uh, where's the auditorium?" Lilynette asked.

"Don't worry, Munchkin," Yylfordt said. "Just stick with us."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" a loud voice boomed out. "Why do we have to go to the assembly NOW? I'm starving over here!"

"Be quiet, Yammy, you're embarrassing yourself," a calm and monotonous voice said.

"But…but , I want bacon NOW!" Yammy said.

The four saw Ulquiorra and Yammy's large, broad, and heavy-muscled form standing in front of the doors to the auditorium. Yammy was large enough to take up most of the entryway. Ulquiorra sighed and walked into the auditorium. Yammy's face took on a sad expression and he walked into the auditorium; slouching as he went. Starrk, Lilynette, Grimmjow, and Yylfordt looked at each other and walked in.

The auditorium was quickly filling with the students taking their seats. Yylfordt chose to sit with the group that he arrived with earlier and went to them. Lilynette, who was not sure what to do, sat with Starrk and Grimmjow. Ulquiorra, as usual, decided to sit by himself, or at least as close as he could since Yammy sat nearby.

"Hey, look, Starrk, Spoon Boy's here," Grimmjow said and pointed to the back of the room.

Starrk and Lilynette looked and saw an extremely tall and gaunt student leaning against the wall. He had long black hair and perpetually squinting eyes. The smile on his face, which revealed his teeth, gave him a look that screamed "Sex Fiend". He was wearing a hoodie, but the hood seemed to have been wired into a permanent formation that did look like a spoon. Standing next to him was another boy who was medium height with close-cropped blonde hair. Starrk and Lilynette noticed that he was carrying, not only his own bag, but also the other student's.

"My, my, there are some mighty fine pieces of ass here, eh Tesla?" the tall boy said in his high, raspy voice that shouted "Stalker".

"Yes, Master Nnoitora," Tesla replied.

"Fucking creep," Grimmjow said, keeping his voice low. "Too bad he didn't get his ass thrown in jail."

"LET'S GET THIS THING STARTED! COME ON, START!" someone cried out.

Starrk, Lilynette, and Grimmjow looked to where the student was shouting and noticed another group of students who were sitting close to Yylfordt and his group. The one who was screaming was a rather tall and muscular boy with long black hair. He was wearing a western-style shirt covered with birds that could have been eagles and fire. He was jumping up and down, clapping his hands as he shouted.

Next to him was another student who had long, flowing blonde hair that was similar to Yylfordt, but was much thinner. Nearby was a rather large, serious-looking student with a shaved head, except for a round patch of black hair at the top of his head. He put one of his large hands over his face and shook his head, either out of shame or disgust. Sitting next to him was a large and extremely beefy boy who sat with a slight smile on his face, a chipped tooth protruding from the left side of his mouth.

Sitting in the middle of this group was a shorter and thin student with short, unkempt hair except for a longer bit at the back that was braided into a short ponytail. The final member of this group was perhaps the most frightening. He was a buff student with purple-dyed, curly hair and was wearing the female version of the school uniform: a tight white blouse and short…very short…grey skirt.

"Ugh…no matter how many times I see you wearing that…I still want to gag," the short student said.

"Oh Ggio, darlin'," the student said. "You're just jealous because you know you will NEVER be as beautiful as me." Then the student in drag extended his left leg to where the foot was above his head.

"OH GOD! CHARLES, PUT YOUR LEG DOWN AND SIT DOWN! NO ONE WANTS TO SEE YOUR PACKAGE!" the loud student cried out.

"EXACTA!" the blonde student cried out and raised his right forefinger into the air, as though he was expressing a point.

"Oh Avirama, don't call me 'Charles'. I told you to call me 'Charlotte'. I'm Charlotte Cuuhlhourne. Don't force me to go all 'Reina de Rosas' on you."

"NO!" the others, except for the two extremely large members of the group and the blonde, cried.

The blonde simply cried out "EXACTA!" while the two larger students kept silent.

"Hey guys," the large, beefy boy said. "Where are the nachos? You told me there would be nachos, Ggio, and I'm HUNGRY!"

Ggio was obviously losing his patience with his group. He tried to hold it back, but he couldn't keep quiet any longer.

"God…damn…it," he growled. "Nirgge, there are no nachos!" he shouted. "Avirama, STOP that damn screaming. Findor, if you say 'Exacta' one more time, I'm gonna bust your face in! Cuuhlhourne, sit down, and stop showing off your panties! Poww…SAY SOMETHING!"

Poww simply shook his head and refocused his attention on the book he was reading. Lilynette looked at the incident in fascination.

"Hey, Starrk, is everyone here that crazy?" Lilynette asked.

However, Starrk was leaning back in his chair, taking his first nap of the day. Lilynette sighed.

"Oh, you must mean them," Grimmjow said and gestured to Ggio and his group, who were already getting into an argument, except for Poww who was just reading.

"Yeah, them," Lilynette said.

"It's just Ggio and his group. They're pretty much harmless…well, except for when Cuuhlhourne's wearing one of his 'outfits'," Grimmjow said and shuddered slightly at the thought.

Lilynette continued to look around the auditorium. She noticed a group of four older girls entering the auditorium. Two of them were arguing with each over who knows what as they took their seats while the third rolled her eyes. The fourth, however, did not seem to notice the argument taking place. Lilynette elbowed her brother, wanting to ask him about those students, but Starrk only mumbled something. Lilynette decided to ask him about them later and turned her attention back to the stage.

"Yes, YES!" someone cried out.

Lilynette turned to look where the cry came from. She saw a pink-haired, bespectacled boy holding something up. A small group surrounded him and they looked at him in amazement.

"Yes, this will be my greatest creation to date," he said, laughing.

"Um, master," one of the group, a short, fat student said. "What IS it?"

"THIS is a work of pure genius," the student said. "This is a formula, of my own creation I might add, that will enhance brain activity and output fifty times the normal rate. Yes, with this I will be able to complete an ENTIRE YEAR'S worth of assignments in a matter of mere MINUTES! And, considering my intellect, ALL of the answers WILL, and I repeat, WILL be right!"

"You are truly a genius above all other geniuses," another of his groups said.

"Of course I am!" he cried out. "I am the deliciously fabulous boy genius, Szayel Aporro Granz! You are fortunate to even be near my, my minions!"

"So…uh…who's going to be the test subject?" one of his "minions" asked.

"I will, of course," Szayel Aporro said. "After all, I will be the one to benefit most from this."

"But…but what if it…?"

"I AM THE PERFECT BEING! ARE YOU DARING TO QUESTION MY ABILITY?" Szayel Aporro shouted at the "minion" who just spoke.

"No…no, master, I'm not…" the "minion" replied.

"Good, now, behold my true genius," he said and drank the mixture.

As he was drinking, Yylfordt looked up.

"HEY, BABY BRO, IF YOU'RE REALLY A GENIUS, THEN MAYBE YOU CAN INVENT YOURSELF A GIRLFRIEND!" he shouted. "OR PERHAPS YOU'D LIKE A BOYFRIEND!"

"SHUT UP, YYLFORDT! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT BEING A GENIUS YOU…YOU…YOU DOO-DOO HEAD?" Szayel Aporro shouted, and then a look of shock came on his face when he realized what his come-back was.

"Uh, master," the twin to the short and fat "minion" said. "I…uh…I think something's gone wrong with your…"

"Who is that?" Lilynette asked, pointing at Szayel Aporro.

"That's Yylfordt's little brother, the self-proclaimed 'genius' Szayel Aporro Granz," Starrk said.

"Whoa, Starrk, I'm surprised that you're actually awake," Grimmjow said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It's kinda hard to sleep when you have Nerd Boy over there laughing like an escapee from a mental asylum," Starrk said.

"Yeah, no shit," Grimmjow said.

At that moment, there came a buzzing noise and the curtains in front of the stage were drawn back. A spotlight shone down on the podium as a rather elderly-looking man stepped towards it. He was wearing a grey suit and wore a panama hat. He stroked his bushy white mustache as he turned to face the students.

"So, is that guy Principal Luisenbarn or Skeletor wearing skin?" Lilynette asked.

"Lilynette! Watch what you say, Principal Luisenbarn doesn't exactly have…a sense of humor," Starrk said, suddenly wide awake and alert. Grimmjow only snickered at Lilynette's question.

"Students of Las Noches High," Baraggan said, his voice booming out of the speakers, which were not really necessary with him, "I WILL HAVE YOUR ATTENTION!"

Everyone straightened when he shouted. The microphone and speakers only amplified his voice and many could have sworn that they saw the lights hanging above shake a little.

"I am your Principal, Baraggan Luisenbarn. To the incoming freshmen who are entering the hallowed halls of MY campus for the first time, know this: I do NOT tolerate insubordination!" Baraggan's voice was beginning to take on a commanding tone and his voice seemed to cause the very floor to shake. "And as for you, upperclassmen, you're all a bunch of lazy, degenerate, perverted, disrespectful punks," he shouted, his voice angry. "Back in MY DAY, we had RESPECT for our elders! We NEVER painted little 'pieces of art' on school property and we WEREN'T careless with SCHOOL PROPERTY!"

As Baraggan continued his rant, Grimmjow was surprised to see that Starrk was still awake. Even Starrk was surprised by this turn of event, but it wasn't because of the principal's speech. It was because he saw someone he didn't know.

He was looking towards the back where the three girls were still arguing with each other. Sitting among them was another girl who he didn't know. She had darkly tanned skin and blonde, unkempt hair with three locks that were held by dark blue bands. Her uniform consisted of the grey vest and a white dress shirt that seemed to show off her well-endowed chest. Her skirt, however, was a turquoise color. She was wearing a silver bracelet with a silver shark charm around her left wrist.

However, what Starrk noticed most were her blue-green eyes. Of course, he couldn't help but look at other parts of her body as well. However, he always found himself looking back at her eyes. He thought that her eyes showed a sense of authority and strength, but they also exhibited a sense of kindness and gentleness.

"Nor did we find ourselves treating women as objects for us to ravish with our vast imaginations," Baraggan continued. "Ah, I miss those days. We didn't have to deal with these troublesome 'hormones' or suffer from these horrific 'rebellious natures' or, even worse, this 'music television' that I've been hearing so much about!"

"Every fucking year…" Grimmjow growled under his breath "…he gives the exact same speech."

Grimmjow rolled his eyes and caught sight of a girl trying to sneak in through the doors. She was the same build as the blonde girl, who Starrk was staring at, but her skin was milky white and her hair was dyed blue-green. Her hazel eyes seemed to glitter as they looked around. She wore a floral skirt and a light green shirt under her grey vest. She had a silver necklace that had a ram's head charm hanging on it. A white beret was perched on top of her head, and she clutched her bag as she tried to sit down.

"AND WE WERE NOT LATE WHEN OUR ELDERS WERE GIVING VERY IMPORTANT SPEECHES!" Baraggan roared and pointed at the girl.

"Eh-he-he-he, sorry about that," the girl said, doing her best not to look embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Principal Luisenbarn, but…uh…I…er…got caught in traffic this morning."

"Be that as it may," Principal Luisenbarn continued, narrowing his eyes. "You are still late. I'll let it go this time, but next time…"

"I…I understand," she said, sitting in an empty seat.

"Good, now then, I suppose it's time to introduce you to the faculty that will guide, or in all of your cases, ATTEMPT to guide you on the path of gaining a proper education. First we have…"

However, before Baraggan could introduce the first teacher, there came a flash of pink flying onto the stage. Szayel Aporro's experiment was taking effect. Unfortunately, it was not the effect he was hoping for. The "genius" embraced Baraggan and started cuddling him and talking to him as if the principal was his pet.

"Awwww," Szayel Aporro said, rubbing his cheek against Baraggan's chest. "Awen't you the most cuddwy wuddwy widdle penguin ever? I just wanna take you home and hug you and wuv you fowever."

The auditorium broke out in laughter. Baraggan was trying to push Szayel Aporro off of him, but the boy genius had an iron grip on him.

"Hey, Starrk! Check this out! Yylfordt's little brother has finally lost it," Grimmjow said, in an attempt to break Starrk's hypnotized gaze at the new student.

Lilynette fell to the floor, laughing so hard that her sides started to hurt. Yammy was laughing so hard that his laughter could be distinguished from the others. Ulquiorra put his hand over his face and shook his head. Ggio and his gang were laughing as well, except for Poww who looked up from his book. Seeing what was taking place on the stage, he simply returned his attention to the book.

"WOW, BABY BRO, WAY TO GO! I HAD NEVER THOUGHT YOU WOULD COME OUT OF THE CLOSET ON PRINCIAL LUISENBARN!" Yylfordt cried out, laughing.

"COACH ZARAKI!" Luisenbarn shouted at one of the faculty members.

"Yeah?" Kenpachi Zaraki said, as he stood. He was rather tall and extremely muscular. He wore an eye-patch over his left eye and his black hair was styled into points.

"GET THIS FREAK OFF ME!"

"No problem, sir," he said and put his hands on Szayel Aporro's shoulders. "Come along now, let the Principal go."

"NO! I WANT MY WIDDLE PENGUIN!" Szayel Aporro shouted.

"Whatever kid. You will let go," Kenpachi said and wrapped one of his arms in between Szayel Aporro and Principal Luisenbarn. With a sudden movement towards him, Szayel Aporro was pried off of Baraggan. "Come along now, I think you need to 'cool off' a bit."

"NO! I WANT MY PENGUIN!" he cried, acting like a spoiled child having a tantrum.

When Coach Zaraki dragged Szayel Aporro off of the stage, Baraggan cleared his throat.

"NEITHER did we assault our elders, speaking complete nonsense, while high on dope! Anyways, before we were so rudely interrupted, allow me to introduce our faculty…"

He stepped away from the podium and the first faculty member made his way to the podium. He was a thin man with light blonde hair that stuck out from under his white-and-green striped hat. He had a rather mischievous grin on his face.

"Hello, students, I'm Kisuke Urahara. I'll be your science teacher. For anyone who's in my chemistry class, let's try NOT to blow up the school and each other," he said as he brought out a fan and after unfolding it, put it up to his mouth.

"Great…just great, we have a psychopath teaching chemistry," Ulquiorra muttered.

After Urahara introduced himself, he returned to his seat as the next teacher made his way to the podium. He had long, white hair and a rather pale complexion. As he made his way to the podium, he put his hand to his mouth and started to cough. By the time he reached the podium, his cough subsided.

"First of all, to the incoming freshmen, I just want to say, 'Welcome' and to our upper classmen, I want to say, 'Welcome back'. I'm Jushiro Ukitake and I'll be teaching History. I look forward to sharing my knowledge with you. I hope I can make history fun and exciting for you."

"So long as he doesn't die halfway through class," Grimmjow whispered. "Although…"

After Ukitake finished introducing himself, he returned to his seat. Then another man stood up and made his way to the podium. He had long, brown hair that was tied into a pony tail, except for a strand in front that hung over his left eye. Instead of the traditional school uniform, he wore a bright red t-shirt with an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt over it. He wore a panama hat with a bright, faux pink flower sticking out of the blue band. His cheeks, chin, and upper lip were covered in stubble. As he made his way to the podium, he waved to the students, most of who applauded for him.

"Uncle Shu, I didn't know he taught here," Lilynette said.

"You know him?" Grimmjow asked.

"Yeah, he's our uncle. Hey, Starrk, look, it's Uncle Shu."

"Huh?" Starrk asked and looked away from the mysterious student and looked to the stage. "Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot to mention that Uncle Shu's a teacher here."

"Hey, you alright, man?" Grimmjow asked.

"Yeah…I'm…I'm fine," Starrk said.

"Hey kiddos, I'm Shunsui Kyoraku, but please call me 'Shu'. I'll be teaching Literature and Language," he said and made his way back to his seat.

"So long as he can keep awake," Lilynette said, giggling.

The next one to step up was a young, but rather stern-looking woman who was wearing glasses. Her hair was neatly combed and styled.

"Good morning, students," she said, "I am Nanao Ise. I'll be your math instructor for the year. Bear in mind that I will not tolerate any kind of disruption in my class. When you're in my class, you will be on your best behavior."

When she finished, she returned to her seat as another woman made her way forward. She looked like Nanao, but her hair wasn't as neat and her hair was tied back in a braid.

"Welcome, students," she said. "I am Lisa Yadomaru, and I'm the School Librarian and Disciplinary Officer. When you are in my presence, you will not cause any disturbances, or you will be severely punished. If I have to, I will oversee Saturday Detentions, and I would rather not have to come in on Saturdays. If any of you force me to, I will make sure that you will experience a living hell."

When she finished, she returned to her seat.

"Man, both Nanao and Lisa look cute when they get upset," Shunsui whispered to Ukitake.

The next to go to the podium was a rather young, flamboyant man. He wore a light pink dress shirt with white ruffles at the sleeve and a pair of powder blue pants and a subdued yellow vest with green trim.

"Hello students, I am your art teacher, Yumichika Ayasegawa. HOPEFULLY, I will be able to make you all aware of what true beauty is through the use of instruction and demonstration."

"I doubt that," Cuuhlhourne muttered. "Honestly, that gaudy costume can't be considered beautiful by any stretch of the imagination."

"Cuuhlhourne, shut the fuck up," Ggio whispered.

When Yumichika left the podium, Principal Luisenbarn returned to the stage. He was followed by a tall, lanky student with a stern face. The boy was wearing a white and black sash across his chest and wore a whistle around his neck.

"Since he's busy dealing with that good-for-nothing junkie," Luisenbarn said. "Your PE teacher will be Kenpachi Zaraki. He'll make sure that you all keep in line. Anyways, I would also like to introduce you to this year's head of the Hall Monitor Squad, Rudobon Chelute."

Rudobon nodded his head as he faced the students.

"Good morning, students, I am Rudobon Chelute, and as Principal Luisenbarn said, I am this year's Head Hall Monitor. For those who wish to join the Hall Monitor Squad, please turn in your application that will be included in your class packets. Keep in mind that I will only take the best and most well-behaved students to join my 'Exequias'."

"Thank you, Mr. Chelute," Luisenbarn said as Rudobon bowed to him and made his way off the stage.

"Little kiss-ass," Grimmjow growled.

"Now pay attention, students. As you leave the auditorium, make sure that you receive your student packets at the tables, which include your class schedule. So make sure that you pick one up because you won't be coming to MY OFFICE to pick one up because you were either too stupid or too lazy to pay ATTENTION!" he shouted and slammed his hands on the podium. "YOU'RE DISMISSED!"

"Thank God that's over," Lilynette said, stretching.

The students began walking out the doors. Yammy pushed his way through the crowd and Ulquiorra followed in his wake, taking full advantage of Yammy's ability of spreading the Student Sea. Ggio and his group left, still arguing among themselves, although Poww continued to read his book as he walked.

"Come on, let's get going," Grimmjow said. "Hey, Starrk, let's get going."

"Huh?" Starrk asked and looked at Grimmjow.

"'His 'Highness' is done," Grimmjow said.

"Oh, alright," Starrk said and yawned as he stood up.

_**Starrk**_

They stood in front of the tables to look for their student packets. Starrk picked up his packet and turned to see the mysterious student standing to the side of the doors talking with the three girls. As Lilynette looked at her own schedule, her anxieties were growing again. She made her way to her brother to ask him for help in finding her classrooms. However, she saw that he was so focused on the new girl that he would probably be of no use in showing her around the school. Grimmjow looked at his own schedule and looked up to see Starrk staring at the new girl. He grinned and made his way to his friend.

"Yo, Starrk," he said, trying to get Starrk's attention. "Dude, you've been staring at her ever since you saw her."

"Well, I…I can't help it," Starrk said. "There's just something about her that…that just draws my attention."

"Yeah, they're called tits," Grimmjow said, grinning. "Look man, I can tell that she's hot, hell even a blind guy could tell she's hot, but you need to stop staring at her. You don't want her to think that you're some creepy stalker pervert, right?"

"What?"

"Come on man, you don't want her to think that you're like Spoon Head over there," Grimmjow said and gestured to Nnoitora who was busy glaring at the girls.

Starrk finally realized what Grimmjow was trying to say. He forced himself to look away from the girl and look at his schedule. Then he realized that someone was missing.

"Shit…" Starrk said. His voice a mixture of panic and concern, "…I was supposed to keep an eye on her."

"Who?"

"Lilynette, but I…I don't see her. Damn it, I was supposed to show her around and now I've lost her."

"Come on Starrk, stop acting like a dumbass. Lilynette's a big girl now. I'm sure that she can take care of herself."

"Yeah, but with perverts like Nnoitora around…"

"Ha, she'd simply kick him in the nuts if he tried anything. Besides, you're one to talk about perverts," Grimmjow said, and a rather smug smile came onto his face.

"Grimm, what the hell are you talking about? You know that I'm not a pervert."

"And I call 'bullshit' on that one. I saw you checking out the new girl. That's how you lost Lilynette. You were too busy checking out the new girl and Lilynette simply walked out the auditorium."

"How do you know that?" Starrk asked. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I saw it. She went up to you, but you were too busy looking at the new girl that she just walked away."

"Why the hell didn't you stop her?"

"Come on man, I'm not too worried about her. You never know, this might actually be a good thing for her…for both of you. She can't rely on you forever."

"In other words, you just let her go because you felt that it's the best way for her to gain more independence."

"That's right, Wolf Boy. Hey, what class do you have first?" Grimmjow asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Oh…uh…looks like I have Ukitake first."

"Sweet, me too," Grimmjow said. The two walked out of the auditorium and made their way to their class.

_**Lilynette**_

Lilynette looked at her schedule and looked up at the door. She turned away from the door and ticked her left forefinger back-and-forth.

"Eeney, meeney, miney, moe…" she muttered, ticking her finger back and forth, keeping her eyes closed.

When she finished the mantra, she opened her eyes and saw her finger pointing to her right. She went down that way.

"That dumbass…" she muttered angrily. "He was supposed to show me around and help me find my way around. That useless…"

She was so irritated at her brother that she did not see the girl who was also looking around, searching for her own classroom. The other girl was about Lilynette's age with close-cropped blonde hair. She was wearing the traditional school uniform with a white dress shirt with the collar flaps spread out on top of the grey vest's shoulders. As Lilynette muttered things that she would like to do to her brother, the two crashed into each other.

"Hey!" Lilynette cried out. "Watch where you're going, are you blind or something?"

"Hey, you're the one who bumped into me!" the other girl cried out in a high shrill voice. "I'm freakin' lost here!"

"Huh, you're lost too huh?"

"Yeah, what's it to ya?"

"It's just that I'm lost too. What class do you have first?"

"Algebra 1, but I can't find the right room. GYAH…this building is too confusing!"

"Huh, I have the same class too," Lilynette said. "Well, we can look for it together. We might as well be lost together."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, there you are, Kiyone," a soft, feminine voice said.

The two girls turned and saw another girl walking towards them. She had her hair tied in a bun, except for two locks that she allowed to frame her face. She was followed by another girl who had longer hair that was braided in the back and the two locks framing her face were held by two silver ribbons.

"MOMO! WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?" Kiyone cried out.

"I was coming to…oh, hello," Momo said when she saw Lilynette. "I'm Momo Hinamori and this is my sister, Tobiume," she said gesturing to the girl standing next to her. "I see that you've met Kiyone Kotetsu. What's your name?"

"I'm…I'm Lilynette G. Starrk," Lilynette said, holding out her hand.

"What does the 'G' stand for?" Momo asked, as she shook Lilynette's hand.

"It stands for Gingerback, my middle name."

"So, Lilynette, are you looking for Algebra 1?" Tobiume asked, she sounded a lot like her sister.

"Yeah, do you know where it is?"

"Yeah, that's why we were looking for Kiyone," Momo said.

"Yeah, we figured she got lost," Tobiume said.

"Even though she claims to know everything," Momo said, giggling.

"Shut up, Momo," Kiyone growled.

"Can you take us there?" Lilynette asked.

"Sure, no problem, just follow me," Momo said

The four girls walked down the halls with Momo leading them. They reached the door to the Algebra 1 classroom. Lilynette found that she was not as nervous as she had been earlier. She felt at ease with the three girls and knew that she had officially made her first real friends.

"Wow, thanks, Momo," Lilynette said.

"Way to be a show off, Momo," Kiyone said.

"Well, perhaps if you came to the school tour yesterday, Kiyone, you wouldn't have gotten lost," Tobiume said.

"Although, that probably wouldn't have helped," someone said.

They saw a boy who was a head taller than Kiyone walking towards them. His school jacket was unbuttoned, revealing a cream-colored polo shirt. To their surprise, he was also wearing a white headband.

"Hey Sentaro, did you come to gloat?" Kiyone asked.

"No, I'm here for class. Just like you."

"Oh yeah, where's your Sherpa? Or did you just find your way here by blind luck?" Kiyone asked.

"I went to the school tour, yesterday."

"I didn't know there was a school tour," Lilynette said.

"Really?" Sentaro asked.

"Yeah, my lazy dumbass of a brother was SUPPOSED to show me around, but he got distracted."

"Awww, you shouldn't say such things," Momo said. "I bet your brother had some things on his mind and he simply forgot. It happens."

"Oh yeah," Lilynette said, her voice dripped with sarcasm. "I'll say he had some things, two things actually, on his mind, alright. He was staring at them during the assembly."

The three girls looked at Lilynette for a second and then at each other. It was clear that they didn't know what she was talking about. Sentaro, on the other hand, understood and burst out laughing.

"Alright, Sentaro, let us in on the joke," Kiyone said, growling at him.

"Oh no, I'm actually enjoying this," he replied.

"Why…you little…" Kiyone snarled and punched him in the arm.

"Ow, why did you do that?"

"Because you're being a pain in the ass, as usual," Kiyone said.

"Would you two knock it off?" Momo asked. "We don't want to be late."

"Fine, whatever," Kiyone said looking at Momo. Then she looked at Sentaro and said, "But this isn't over."

Sentaro shook his head and the five entered the room. Lilynette sat in a seat close to Momo, Tobiume, and Kiyone while Sentaro sat next to the window. After they took their seat, the bell rang, and Nanao Ise walked in.

"Good morning, class, I hope you didn't have too difficult of a time getting here. Alright, let's get started shall we?"

She took roll and when she reached Lilynette's name, she looked at her. A surprised look came onto her face when she saw that Lilynette raise her hand saying "here" and that she was wide awake and paying attention. She looked back at the school roster and continued the roll call.

"Psst, hey, Lilynette," Momo whispered.

"Yeah?" Lilynette whispered back.

"Why did Miss Ise look like that?"

"Like what?"

"Well, she looked at you and got a surprise look on her face."

"Oh, that…I think it might have something to do with my brother."

When Nanao finished taking the roll call, she passed out the course syllabus, complete with dates for tests and which chapters they would cover. After that was finished, Nanao began to lecture them on the basics of Algebra. As the class wore on, Lilynette found that she was becoming more and more bored with the class. Soon she began to nod off and laid her head on her desk to take an impromptu nap. Unfortunately, Nanao saw her.

"Gyah!" she shouted. "I should have known better. Miss Lilynette, you will remain AWAKE in MY class. It's bad enough that I have to deal with your brother, but I hoped that you would not be like him and fall asleep in my class."

"Oh…uh…sorry Miss Ise," Lilynette said, waking up.

When Miss Ise continued with her lecture, Lilynette decided that she would be one of her least favorite teachers for one simple reason: sheer boredom. When Miss Ise finished her lecture she wrote the homework assignment on the whiteboard behind her. When the bell rang, the four girls walked out of the class.

"Man…NO WONDER my brother sleeps through class," Lilynette said. "Miss Ise might be young, but she's so…she's so BORING."

"I know that she may be boring, but she loves her job," Momo said.

"Yeah…whatever, but did she really have to give us homework on the FIRST DAY? Man, if the year is going to be like that, I'll probably die either out of too much homework or out of pure boredom."

"So that's what that was about," Tobiume said.

"What?" Kiyone asked.

"Well, remember when Miss Ise was taking roll call at the beginning class? She looked surprised when she saw you, Lilynette. I was wondering what that was about until she saw you sleeping. I bet your brother sleeps through her class and she was surprised to find you still awake."

"Yep, that's it," Lilynette said. "Of course, my brother sleeps through all of his classes."

"So, what's your next class?" Momo asked.

"Oh…let's see," Lilynette said as she looked at her schedule. "I have Ukitake."

"Wait…what…Uki…UKITAKE!" Kiyone cried out.

"Yeah, so, what's the big deal? I mean we saw him at the assembly," Lilynette said.

"Yeah, but I fell asleep. I…I didn't realize…"

Just then they saw Sentaro rushing past them.

"UKITAKE!" he cried out.

"HEY, NO FAIR, GET BACK HERE DUMBASS!"

"NO WAY, I'M GOING TO GET TO CLASS FIRST!"

"NOT IF I CAN HELP IT!"

"Uh…are those two crazy?" Lilynette asked.

"Nah, they're getting into one of their squabbles," Momo said.

"Yeah, they've been like that since Junior High," Tobiume said.

"Why?"

"Well, Mr. Ukitake used to teach at Hueco Mundo Junior High School. They were part of his last class, before he got a job here at Las Noches," Momo said. "I guess they really liked him."

When they got to class, they saw that Kiyone and Sentaro were both sitting in the front row and directly in front of the podium. Lilynette saw that they were glaring daggers at each other. When the bell rang, Ukitake entered the room and Kiyone and Sentaro sat up, straight as a pair of rulers and facing directly forward.

"Good morning, class," he said. "I'm so glad to see there are so many new faces here, and some familiar ones." He looked directly at Kiyone and Sentaro as he said that. "Anyways, before we begin, I could use some help from time-to-time and would appreciate for someone to volunteer as a class assistant."

Before he finished saying this, Kiyone and Sentaro both raised their hands and then glared at each other. Lilynette put a hand over her mouth and giggled as quietly as she could.

"STOP IT, KIYONE. I HAD MY HAND UP FIRST!"

"NO YOU DIDN'T. I DID!"

"PUT YOUR HAND DOWN. PROFESSOR UKITAKE'S GOING TO CALL ON ME!"

"NO HE ISN'T. HE'S GOING TO CALL ON ME!"

"Uh…I…uh…how about I…?" Ukitake tried to say.

"I'M PROFESSOR UKITAKE'S FAVORITE!"

"NO YOU'RE NOT. I AM."

"THAT'S IT! I'M GONNA KNOCK YOU INTO NEXT WEEK!"

"OH YEAH, I'M GONNA KNOCK YOU INTO NEXT MONTH!"

"Would you two please settle down? You can both be my assistants," Ukitake said, gently putting his hands on each of their shoulders.

"Really?" the two asked.

"Yeah, sure," Ukitake said, although he was unsure that he did the right thing.

"ALRIGHT, just wait and see," Kiyone said. "I'll show you that I'm better than this loser."

"No way, I'm going to prove that I'm better than you," Sentaro replied.

"This is going to be a LONG year," Ukitake muttered.

As the class progressed, Lilynette found that while Miss Ise was boring, Mr. Ukitake was actually making the class fun and interesting. She found out that he would sometimes bring props to class with him and then have them go outside to have the class re-enact famous historical events. He would also go over famous historical documents with them and then have them write stories or essays about how those documents played a role in shaping history and society. Lilynette definitely decided that Mr. Ukitake was going to be one of her favorite teachers.

After her History class with Ukitake, Lilynette's next class was PE. She had a feeling that she was going to enjoy this class. After all, between her and Starrk, she was the more active and energetic of the two. After getting into her PE uniform, she was surprised to see that her brother and Grimmjow were also having PE at the same time. As she made her way to the volleyball court she was not surprised to see her brother sleeping on the bleachers.

"IF SHE WANTS TO PLAY VOLLEYBALL, THEN WE ALL PLAY VOLLEYBALL!"

Lilynette turned and saw the three girls she saw earlier at the assembly arguing with each other. She saw the blonde girl standing near them, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. She looked to her brother, but saw that he was still asleep. However, Coach Zaraki noticed her brother as well. He walked towards him and towered over him.

"Well, well, well," he said, "What have we here? A GOOD FOR NOTHING, LAZY BUM! COME ON! GET YOUR SORRY ASS UP!" Kenpachi grabbed Starrk's shoulders and forced him up. Starrk immediately became wide awake and leapt away from the bleachers. "Now that you're up…GET OUT THERE AND SWEAT!"

Starrk, out of pure terror, began to run what would have been the fastest 100-yard dash ran at the school with the possible exception of Ggio Vega, who was on the track team.

"Hey, Yachiru," he said turning to a small, pink-haired girl who was standing next to him. "Make sure that one gets a good workout," pointing to Starrk.

"Sure thing, Kenny," Yachiru replied and ran towards Starrk.

Lilynette couldn't help but watch her brother being chased by the adorable little mascot. A wide grin spread across her face and she began to giggle at the sight of her brother running away from the little girl. That and the fact that she made some good friends on her first day caused Lilynette to forget about her anxieties.

"Tee-hee-hee, serves you right," she said.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" someone asked.

"Oh, just my brother getting his ass kicked by the mascot," she replied and turned around.

She saw the blonde-hair girl standing behind her and looking to where Lilynette pointed. The girl smiled a little and returned to the three girls who were arguing over who was going to serve the ball first.

"Come on, Mr. Sleepy Puppy! You gotta feel the burn! Hee-hee-hee!" Yachiru cried out, laughing.

"Grimmjow, help me," Starrk shouted, but Grimmjow, who was busy at the basketball court with Yylfordt and his group, only laughed.

When the bell rang, the class made their way to the locker rooms to get back into their school uniforms. Grimmjow strode next to Starrk, who was clearly more exhausted than usual. The mysterious girl walked with her own friends who were still yelling at each other.

"See ya, Sleepy Head!" Yachiru cried out and waved to Starrk.

Lilynette could only laugh. Momo rushed up beside her.

"So, was that your brother?" Momo asked, pointing to Starrk.

"Yeah, that's him."

"I guess he didn't get much sleep then," she said, giggling.

"Nah, but he'll make up for it."

_**Lilynette: 10 minutes later**_

The cafeteria was bustling as the students got their lunches and sat in their own groups. Lilynette was sitting with Momo, Tobiume, Kiyone and Sentaro. Kiyone and Sentaro were still arguing over who was a better teacher's assistant for Ukitake, but Lilynette didn't mind. She decided to use the time to work on her math homework that Miss Ise gave them. She tried to ignore the grumbling noises her stomach was making.

"Uh, Lily?" Momo asked.

"Yeah?" Lilynette asked, looking at Momo.

"Why aren't you eating lunch?"

"Oh…uh…well I…I wanted to get this out of the way, you know, since math is so boring. Plus, I wanna keep my cute figure."

"You forgot to bring lunch money, didn't you?" Tobiume asked.

"Well…uh…no…that's not…well, yeah I did," Lilynette said.

"Why didn't you say something?" Momo asked.

"I…I was too embarrassed."

"Hey, it's no problem, you can have part of my lunch," Tobiume said.

"Are…are you sure?"

"Of course, we're sure. Here," Momo said and placed half of her ham and cheese sandwich by her, "you can have some of mine too."

"Hey, no fair, I want to give Lilynette something too," Kiyone said and put two chocolate cookies down on the table.

"No you don't, Kiyone," Sentaro said, putting a packet of Swiss Rolls in front of Lilynette. "If you're giving something to our li'l buddy here then so am I."

"Thanks guys," Lilynette said, smiling.

The other four students looked at her and smiled as well.

_**Starrk**_

"Huh, looks like Lily's made some new friends," Grimmjow said.

"Huh?" Starrk asked, looking up.

"I said, 'Lily's made some new friends', see?"

Starrk looked to where Grimmjow was pointed and smiled. He was happy to see his sister was making friends. He felt that Grimmjow was right earlier when he said that allowing Lilynette to try to find her own way around was for the best. That was when he saw the blonde girl sitting at another table with her group of friends. He found that he just couldn't look away from her. Grimmjow looked confused at first, but then he turned and looked to where Starrk was looking.

"Ugh…Dude, you need to stop doing that. You're gonna end up with Nnoitora's stalker rep if you keep this up," Grimmjow said. However, he then noticed the girl with the blue-green hair walking in, and he found himself staring at her.

"Ha, you know, you really shouldn't be talking, 'Kitty'," Starrk said. "You're no better with Nel."

Grimmjow then turned his attention back to Starrk. His eyes were wide with surprise at this bit of information.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Starrk, are you saying that you know that girl's NAME?"

"Uh…yeah, so what?" Starrk asked.

"Why…the hell…didn't you tell me? Why were you holding out on me? How do you know her?"

"Dude, Nelliel and I go WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY back. We've known each other since kindergarten."

"You bastard…why the fuck didn't you tell ME about HER?"

"Well…you didn't ask," Starrk said lazily.

"Whatever, but seriously, Dude: share some info with me. Tell me about her," Grimmjow said, sounding more serious than he usually was.

"Well…" Starrk began.

"HEY, BABY BRO! SORRY THAT YOUR FIRST CRUSH DIDN'T WORK OUT FOR YOU!"

"SHUT UP, YOU IGNORANT FOOL!"

Starrk and Grimmjow turned and saw Yylfordt laughing as his brother, Szayel Aporro, continually yelled at him. They looked at each other and grinned.

_**Nnoitora**_

Nnoitora leaned against the wall, eating an apple, as he watched the girls. Tesla leaned against the wall and was eating a piece of beef jerky. He was trying to come up with a plan to pick up some "random hottie." He then saw the blue-green haired girl and he grinned. He looked like a weasel that had made its way into the hen house.

"Tesla," he said.

"Yes, Master Nnoitora?" Tesla replied.

"Stay here."

"Yes sir."

Nnoitora strutted towards the girl, trying to look sexy. However, he only succeeded in looking more like a creep.

"Hey baby, how would you like to spend some alone-time with me?"

"Nnoitora," the girl said. "Why do you continue to persist? You hit on EVERY girl EVERY day. You KNOW what the answer's going to be, or perhaps you like living in your own little dream world."

"Aw, don't be like that Nelliel. You know you want me. Hell, every girl wants to be with the world's greatest lover, Nnoitora Gilga."

Nelliel heard the desperation in Nnoitora's voice. She was tired of his persistent attempts at trying to flirt with her and him flirting with the other girls and she wanted to get back at him. Then, she came up with an excellent idea.

"Hmmm, on second thought…" Nel said, smiling. "I think I will take you up on your offer."

"Whoa, really?"

"Really, come on, let's blow this joint."

"Alright," Nnoitora said, grinning.

Nelliel grinned as she led Nnoitora out of the cafeteria. A couple of minutes later, there came sounds of a struggle taking place in the hallway, followed by a high-pitch shriek. Grimmjow got up to help the girl, but Starrk put his hand on his shoulder. Then there came the sound of someone being dragged down the hall and the front door opening and closing. Avirama rushed to the windows to look outside to see what was going on.

"HEY GUYS," he shouted, "CHECK IT OUT! SOMEONE'S GETTING TIED TO THE FLAG POLE!"

Everyone rushed to the windows to take a look. Grimmjow rushed to the window and grinned as Starrk came up behind him to take a look. Nnoitora was dressed in one of the school's female cheerleading uniforms and he was screaming at Nelliel who was finishing tying him to the flag pole. After she finished tying the knot, Nelliel stood back and admired her work and smiled.

"Oh, and FYI, Nnoitora, the answer is still 'NO'."

"YOU FUCKING BITCH! GET BACK HERE!" Nnoitora cried out.

"Hmm, I think you should stay there for a while. Perhaps you can learn some manners."

"Damn…" Grimmjow said, "She's a girl after my own heart."

"Is that right?" Starrk asked, raising his eyebrows at him.

"Damn right, I love a girl who can kick ass. Wait a minute. You knew what was going on in the hall, didn't you? That's why you stopped me, right?"

Starrk looked at him and shrugged, although there was a slight smile on his face.

Outside, Nnoitora was still screaming. Kiyone ran out with her cell phone, grinning. Nnoitora begged to be released, but Kiyone simply grinned at him and said "Click" as she took a picture of the "Spoon Cheerleader". After taking the photo, she ran back into the cafeteria to show her friends.

_**Lilynette**_

"That was hilarious," Lilynette said, as she and her friends made their way to their next class, Literature.

"Yeah, no kidding," Sentaro said.

"Hey, if you want me to, I can e-mail the picture of the lovely 'Spoon Cheerleader' to ya," Kiyone said.

"Oh yeah, please do. I'll make it my computer wallpaper," Lilynette said, still laughing.

"So, what's our next class?" Momo asked.

"Literature with Shunsui Kyoraku," her sister said.

Lilynette smiled when she heard that. She knew that their Literature class would be a rather interesting class. After all, her Uncle Shun was a lot like her brother in both looks and mannerism. After taking their seat, the class waited for Mr. Kyoraku to start the class. When the class bell rang, they turned to the door, but Mr. Kyoraku did not enter. However, they didn't think anything about it, but after ten minutes, they started talking among themselves.

"Hey, where is he?" Momo asked.

"Yeah, isn't he supposed to be here by now?" Kiyone asked.

The other students were starting to get worried, but Lilynette only rolled her eyes.

"Shouldn't someone go and find him?" someone asked.

"I'll go," Lilynette said and got up.

"Lily, aren't you worried about getting into trouble?" Momo asked.

"Nah, not really," Lilynette replied. "If I run into that Rudobon kid, I'll just get Uncle Shu to cover for me."

"Wait a minute, what do you mean 'Uncle Shu'?" Kiyone asked.

"Later," Lilynette said and slipped out the door.

She made her way down the hall to the staircase that led to the flat top roof where some of the students had lunch. She knew where it was because Momo pointed it out while they were on their way to History class. However, as she made her way to the stairs, she saw the tall, thin boy with the black and white sash.

"What are you doing out of class?" Rudobon asked.

"Oh, I was looking for our professor," Lilynette said.

"Do you have a hall pass?"

"Of course I don't have a hall pass. I told you that I was looking for our professor."

"You better watch your tone with me. Otherwise, I will report you to…wait a minute, who's your class professor?"

"Shunsui Kyoraku," Lilynette replied.

"I see, and you are…"

"I'm Lilynette Starrk, Mr. Kyoraku is my uncle."

"Ah yes, Principal Luisenbarn ordered me that if you were out searching for Mr. Kyoraku then I should not hinder you. Do you know where he is?"

"I have a good idea."

"Very well, but make sure that you don't wander the halls during class for any other reason."

"I won't."

"Very good," Rudobon said and marched off.

"Man, talk about a tight ass," Lilynette whispered and made her way up the stairs.

She opened the double doors at the top landing and walked out onto the roof. She looked around and saw her uncle lying on one of the metal bunches. He had his hands under his head and his hat covered his face. Lilynette walked towards him and shook him a little.

"Uncle Shu," she said.

"Hmm…what…hey, Lily, what is it?" Shunsui asked after taking his heat from off his face.

"Class started twenty minutes ago," Lilynette said.

"What? It did? Whoops, my bad," he replied, getting up, but he showed that he wasn't in a hurry. "You didn't get into trouble did ya?"

"Nope, although I did run into that tight ass, Rudobon, but I didn't get into trouble. He told me that Principal Luisenbarn informed him about me."

"Ah good, I was hoping he would. He's the only one who can get Rudobon to bend the rules a little."

After Lilynette and Shunsui entered the class, the class was nearly over. Shunsui did have enough time to pass out the course syllabus as well as the copies of the first book they would be reading, _Watership Down_, and go over some of it. When the bell rang, Shunsui told them that their homework was to go over the syllabus and read the first three chapters of _Watership Down_ and be prepared to discuss it the next day.

"Okay, so, what did you mean by 'Uncle Shu'?" Momo asked.

"Well…Mr. Kyoraku is my uncle, on my mother's side. While everyone else was panicking, I had a good idea of where he would be."

"Huh, I thought he reminded me of someone. He looks a lot like your brother. Does that mean he also likes to sleep a lot?"

"You have no idea. He also likes to sleep on rooftops. In fact, whenever he would come to visit, if we couldn't find him, the first place we would look would be on the roof."

"Wow, that's so weird."

"Yeah, but not as weird as who our next teacher is," Kiyone said.

"I guess that means we have Mr. Ayasegawa," Lilynette said.

When they approached the door to their art class they saw that it was decorated with feathers and spider-lilies. When they opened the door, they saw green and purple streamers hanging from the ceiling. The walls were covered with images of peacocks and feathers.

"What…the…hell…is this?" Lilynette asked.

"This…my dear, is beauty," Yumichika said.

Lilynette, Kiyone, and Momo jumped a little in surprise. Tobiume only turned and looked up at the flamboyant teacher. Yumichika only looked down at them and shook his head.

"Huh…I see that you do not see the beauty within my decorations. I hope that you will, but…I don't think you will. After all, not everyone can handle true beauty," Yumichika said. "Now then, you better take your seat, class is about to start."

During their final class, Lilynette found it very difficult to pay attention to anything that the Yumichika was saying. The decorations and the teacher's outfit were too much of a distraction. She looked at the other students and saw that many were also distracted.

_Is this really his idea of beauty? Man, talk about a psycho,_ Lilynette thought.

However, if she thought Yumichika was insane, she quickly found out that her last teacher for the day was probably even more insane. When she entered the science room, she saw Mr. Urahara sitting on the teacher's desk with a fan over his mouth. She took a seat at one of the tables and looked around her. The other students only looked at Mr. Urahara with a combination of interest and apprehension. Just as the last student came rushing through the door, the bell rang.

"Well, is everyone here?" he asked, lowering the fan from his face, revealing a smile. "Good, I'll be handing out the class syllabus and today's class will just be going over guidelines. You'll need to pay close attention to these, especially when we start doing lab work next week."

When he mentioned "lab work" his smile became even bigger. Lilynette looked over to Momo who was sitting next to her and the two exchanged a worried look. As Mr. Urahara continued his introductory lecture, Lilynette couldn't help but pay attention to him. She began to hope that someone wouldn't accidentally blow up the school, although she had a feeling that Mr. Urahara wouldn't mind a few explosions.

When class was over, Lilynette walked to the front entrance with her friends. As they left, they saw that Nnoitora was still tied to the flag pole and Tesla was trying to untie him, without much success. The group looked at this sight and started to laugh.

"Man…it's even…funnier seeing it…in person," Lilynette gasped.

"You got that right, Munchkin," Grimmjow said as he and Starrk walked out.

"Oh, hey Grimm, hey brother, I want to introduce you to some of my friends. This girl here is Momo and this is her sister, Tobiume. The girl with the short blonde hair is Kiyone and the boy she's arguing with is Sentaro."

"Hey," Starrk said, lazily waving his hand at them.

"It's nice to meet ya," Grimmjow said.

"It's nice to meet you too," Momo said, smiling.

"Well, we better get going, Starrk," Lilynette said.

"Oh, yeah," Starrk said. "I'll see you tomorrow Grimm."

"We'll see you tomorrow, Lilynette," Momo said.

"Alright, see ya," Lilynette said, waving as her four friends made their way to the buses.

"HEY STARRK!" Grimmjow shouted out as Starrk and Lilynette made their way to the dusty grey Cadillac.

"Yeah?" Starrk asked.

"You ARE gonna try and introduce me to that Nel girl, right?"

"Oh…yeah, yeah, sure," Starrk said.

"AWESOME!" Grimmjow called out.

Starrk waved to Grimmjow as he got into his car. His sister was already waiting for him.

"So, did you have a good day?" Starrk asked.

"Well, other than you forgetting to show me around…"

"Oh…sorry about that," Starrk said, feeling rather ashamed.

"Never mind…anyways, I would have to say…it was a good day," Lilynette said, smiling.

**End of Chapter 1**

**A.N.: This was one of the first fan fics that I wrote after discovering and I was largely inspired by the story: "Fast Times at Hueco Mundo" (which is an excellent story). I decided that perhaps the time has come to get back to it, although I won't be updating it as much as my more major projects, but I will be updating.**

**With the release of the third Bleach Official Character Book, I had to change Rudobon's last name from Lindsay to Chelute (but I didn't change Rudobon to Rudbornn, because I'm so used to writing Rudobon that it would feel odd if I changed it). Likewise, I refuse to change Gingerback to Gingerbuck because Gingerback sounds a lot cooler.**


	2. Chapter 2: Study Buddies

**Life at Las Noches High**

**Chapter 2: Study Buddies**

A week passed after the school year began. Most of the students had already adjusted to their respective schedules. Starrk was surprised to see the growth that Lilynette showed over the course of that week. She continually ate lunch with her group of friends: Momo and Tobiume Hinamori, Kiyone Kotetsu, and Sentaro Kotsubaki. A couple of days later, the group started to hang out after school to help each other with their homework. Starrk was more than happy to drive Lilynette to and from these study sessions.

However, while Lilynette was adjusting to school life, her brother was having a completely different experience. He found himself becoming more and more intrigued with the mysterious girl ever since he first saw her at the opening assembly. In the classes that he had with her, he found it very difficult to keep his eyes off her. While this did not affect his school work, it did have an effect on his friends.

Yylfordt would sometimes make fun of him, but he was slightly concerned, especially considering Starrk's previous relationship. Even though Grimmjow had the same concern, his irritation actually outweighed his concern.

"Dude, if you're not careful…" Grimmjow said.

"I know, I know," Starrk said.

"Yeah well…just so you know. Anyways, why haven't you introduced me to Nel, yet?"

"I…I guess I keep forgetting."

"No kidding and I bet I know why."

"Oh really, and what's your theory, Sherlock?"

"Simple, that girl you continually stare at."

"Alright, alright, I get it."

"I don't think you do, Starrk. Look, I'm worried that if you keep on this way, something bad will happen to you. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt again."

Starrk did his best not to continually stare at the new girl, but he failed from time-to-time. Starrk didn't fully understand just how serious his problem was, at least until that Tuesday. It was during Shunsui Kyoraku's class. Kyoraku was taking one of his "power naps" and had left the students to work on their essays on _Paradise Lost_. That was when the new girl's friends noticed him staring at their new friend. Even though the three fought amongst themselves over nearly everything, they did agree on one thing: protecting their friend.

"HEY!" one of them shouted. "What the fuck is your problem, creep?"

Starrk looked at the girl who was standing before him, glaring down at him. She was wearing the school uniform, but instead of wearing a skirt, she wore a pair of dark grey pants and the sleeves of her white dress shirt were rolled up to her elbows.

"I'm sorry," Starrk said, somewhat confused.

"Don't give me that. You've been staring at my best friend for over a goddamn week."

She leaned forward until her face was almost touching his. Starrk saw that she had heterochromia. The right eye was an icy blue and her left eye was amber, but both had a burning rage. Starrk came fully awake. He didn't know how to react to this girl.

"Well…I'm waiting," she said. "Are you going to apologize or are you just going to sit there like a perverted fucktard?"

Starrk felt his face go red at the girl's outburst. He didn't know what to say, and the girl leaning closer to him made him feel even more nervous.

"Get over yourself, Apacci," one of the other girls said. The girl who was approaching was dark-skinned with long, wavy, dark hair. Her white dress shirt was partially unbuttoned and her grey vest was extremely low cut, thus showing off a great deal of her impressive bosom.

"Fuck off, Mila Rose," Apacci growled. "I'M Lady Harribel's best friend, not you!"

"How pathetic," Mila Rose said, grinning. "Just keep telling yourself that, Apacci. I'm sure that Lady Harribel will take pity on you."

Apacci looked at Mila Rose, and if looks could kill… Mila Rose looked at Apacci's expression and smirked at her, which caused Apacci to become even more infuriated. Then Mila Rose looked at Starrk, whose face had grown even redder. Her eyes narrowed and a dangerous gleam entered her eyes.

"As for you…" Mila Rose growled. "What the hell is your problem anyway? Are you another stalker who's trying to get into our friend's pants?"

Starrk never felt so embarrassed in his entire life. He wished that he could just disappear at that moment. The blonde student looked over and only shook her head. She turned her focus on her essay.

"If you're another fucking perverted stalker," Apacci said, "I'LL RIP YOUR FUCKING NUTS OFF! Now, do you understand me, you little shithead?"

"Hey, cool it, Apacci," Grimmjow said. "What the hell crawled into your panties? My friend ain't a fucking pervert."

"Oh really," Mila Rose said, moving forward until she and Grimmjow were nearly nose-to-nose. "Well then, what the hell do you call someone who's been staring a girl for OVER a fucking week?"

"Stay out of this, Mila Rose!" Apacci shouted. "I'm handling this!"

That was when the argument became a three-way shouting match. The other students were already staring at them, and Starrk felt even more embarrassed. He wished that he could just sink through the floor, but the best he could do was sink lower into his seat.

"If I may ask…" a much calmer voice said, "Why have you been staring at Lady Harribel for over a week?"

Starrk looked up and saw the third girl standing over him. She was rather slender and had long flowing olive-green hair. She wore a faux silver and diamond, feather-shaped barrette on the front right-side of her hair. Unlike Apacci and Mila Rose, her face said that she was truly curious and wanted an answer as opposed to just killing him outright.

"I…uh…well, honestly…I don't really know," Starrk replied, his voice sounded weak. "I guess…I guess it's just something about her."

"Hmmm, I see," the girl said. "You have a crush on her, don't you? Well, I can't say that I blame you. She is very beautiful after all. Most guys pursue her like you wouldn't believe."

"I can understand that," Starrk said. He found that he was slowly regaining his composure. It was nice that this girl, at least, understood what was going on. "I mean, she does have a nice body, but that's not the only thing that I'm captivated by."

"Oh?" the girl said, her left eyebrow rose slightly. She was rather surprised by his answer, but she wanted to know more about Starrk's intentions. "Well then, what was it about her that you found so captivating?"

"Well, I would have to say…her eyes," Starrk said, blushing. "There's…there's something about her eyes that I find captivating."

"Hmmm, I see. You know, if you're really in love with her, then maybe you should try and get to know her a little more. Does that help?"

"Uh…yeah…yeah, it does," Starrk said, smiling at her. "Thanks."

"No problem," the girl said and made her way back to her seat next to her friend.

Starrk smiled. He thought that it was nice that at least one of them would take the time to find out about why he stared at the blonde student. However, the argument between Grimmjow, Mila Rose, and Apacci raged on.

"HE IS A FUCKING PERVERT!" Apacci roared.

"Stop being such a bitch, Apacci. I've known Starrk for years and he's NOTHING like Spoon-Fucker over there!" Grimmjow then pointed to Nnoitora who was too busy looking at his copy of Penthouse Magazine that he smuggled into school to even notice.

"FUCK YOU, GRIMMJOW!" Apacci yelled. "He's been staring at Lady Harribel for more than a WEEK! As far as I'm concerned, he IS a fucking pervert!"

The calmer girl returned to her seat. She thought about what Starrk told her and decided to tell her friend about her admirer's true intentions. She thought that at least Starrk was sincere. As far as how her friend reacted, that was entirely up to Harribel.

"Hey, Harribel?" she asked.

"Hey Sung-Sun, is something wrong?" Harribel asked.

"Well, you may have noticed that young man over there," she said and gestured to Starrk.

"You mean the one whom Mila Rose and Apacci are making all that fuss about?"

"Yes, that's the one."

"Well, yeah I've noticed him. He's kinda cute…a little odd, though. What about him?"

"Well, I got a chance to talk to him for a bit."

"Ah, unlike Mila Rose and Apacci; they just started yelling at the poor guy."

"Well, anyways, I talked to him and I think that he really likes you. After all, he hasn't been able to take his eyes off you all week…"

As Sung-Sun continued talking, Harribel couldn't help but smile. She knew about Starrk looking at her long before the others. She thought she saw him looking at her during the assembly, but she hadn't been sure. It wasn't until the third day of school that she was sure.

"I wouldn't worry too much about him," Harribel said, smiling to Sung-Sun. "He seems to be pretty harmless."

"Do you want to know what I think, Grimmjow?" Apacci shouted. "I think he's worse than that walking spoon."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Grimmjow shouted.

Mila Rose decided that the argument was no longer worth her time. She decided to leave Grimmjow and Apacci with their yelling match and made her way back to her seat, shaking her head.

"I wish that Apacci would calm down," Harribel said. "If he really was a pervert, then he would have tried something already, and he would have failed miserably like the 'Spoon Cheerleader'."

_**Lunch**_

"Dude, I can't believe that they ganged up on you like that," Yylfordt said. He took another bite out of his roast beef sandwich.

The cafeteria was filled with students who were busy eating their lunches. Word about the incident in Kyoraku's class had spread among the students like wildfire. Yylfordt decided to sit with Grimmjow and Starrk so that they could discuss that morning's events. Of course, the nearby students were trying to overhear the conversation.

"No shit, that damned Apacci," Grimmjow said, "she ALWAYS does this kinda shit."

"I swear bro, that she's some kinda closet case, if ya know what I mean," Yylfordt said.

"Maybe, but at least the third girl in that group seems to understand the situation," Starrk said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…say what? Are you saying that you actually got to talk to one of those Amazon wannabes?" Grimmjow asked.

"Well…yeah," Starrk said. "She simply asked me why I've been staring at that girl, and I told her. She seemed rather surprised by my answer," he added as an afterthought.

"Yeah, bro, I've been curious about that too. Why have you been staring at that babe?" Yylfordt asked.

"Well, there's just something about her eyes that I find entrancing. I don't know what it is exactly, but that's why I keep finding myself looking at her."

Grimmjow let out a low chuckle at Starrk's answer. It wasn't due simply to the fact that Starrk was a Romantic at heart. It was actually because he thought that Starrk was hiding other reasons. He knew that Starrk wasn't a pervert, but that didn't stop him from being a straight guy.

"C'mon, Starrk, you KNOW that you want her bod," Grimmjow said, laughing.

"Eh, you caught me, Grimm," Starrk said, a slight smile formed on his face. "But they were quick glances. Besides, it's not her body that I'm captivated with."

Grimmjow was starting to open his mouth to offer a rebuttal, but before he could, Nelliel walked over to them. Grimmjow's mouth simply hung open like that. She was carrying her lunch and put it onto their table and sat next to Starrk.

"Hey Starrk," she said cheerfully. "I heard about your verbal bashing that you got this morning. Sorry that happened to you."

"Hey Nel," Starrk replied. "Don't worry about it. It's really not a big deal," he said in his usual carefree manner.

"I thought it would still bother you," Nel said.

"Nah, it's in the past," Starrk said.

"That's good, so, what were you guys talking about?" Nel asked.

Starrk knew that she was obviously curious about their current conversation. However, he had a suspicion that she was also curious about what his "verbal bashing" was over. Even though they had been friends since kindergarten, he wasn't sure that he wanted her to know.

He looked at Grimmjow, knowing that he was the type of guy who would say anything to embarrass him. However, Grimmjow wasn't speaking. Instead, he was in the same trance that Starrk found himself in whenever he saw Harribel. Starrk raised his eyebrows, wondering what Grimmjow was thinking. He did know that Grimmjow had a thing for Nel, but he wasn't going to tell Nel that.

Yylfordt, however, was informing Nel about what they were talking about. He then proceeded to tell her about what Starrk's "verbal bashing" had been about. As Nel listened, she smiled and made meaningful glances over at Starrk. Starrk felt his face becoming red again.

"Ooooooooooooh!" Nel exclaimed. "So our li'l Starrkey has a li'l crush, eh?" It was clear that Nel's joy and excitement was growing.

"Oh yeah, bro," Yylfordt said, "I'll say he does. He's got it bad."

"Well, come, come, Starrkey, who's the lucky girl?" Nel asked, growing more excited by the minute.

Starrk knew that whenever Nel got excited about something, she showed an abnormal amount of enthusiasm towards it. He knew that he could withhold information from her, but Nel always seemed to find a way to find things out. This was especially true when she became very interested and enthusiastic about something. This was one of those things.

"She's the girl over there," Starrk said, and pointed at the table where Harribel and her friends were eating lunch.

"Ooooooh, so you've got a li'l crush on Tia Harribel, eh?" Nel asked.

Starrk blushed and nodded his head and then looked at her, shocked that she knew the girl's name. He looked at her and saw a very wide grin come across her face. Starrk also noticed that mischievous look that Nel got whenever she got an idea. He saw that look when Nel came up with the idea of dressing Nnoitora in the cheerleader's uniform and tying him to the flag pole and before when they plotted on a way to get their two friends, Skullak and Cirucci, to become an official couple. He didn't want to think about what kind of ideas were running through her head.

"So," Nel said. "Are you surprised that I know her?"

"Well, yeah…I mean, she's a new student and all and…and I've never seen you hang out with her before," Starrk said.

"Come now, Starrk, you really shouldn't be that surprised," Nel said, still smiling. "I've known Tia for a couple of months now. I met her when she moved here over the summer. In fact, I was one of the first friends she made here, well…other than Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun."

Starrk was shocked by this sudden bit of information. However, he wasn't really that surprised. Ever since he knew her, he knew that Nelliel Tu Odelschwank was the type of person who could make friends with just about anyone. So long as they weren't like Nnoitora.

"You know, I could introduce you to her. That is, if you want me to," Nel said.

Even though she had that sweet, innocent smile that put many people off their guard, Starrk saw that mischievous look in her eyes. Whether he wanted it or not, she was going to introduce him. Starrk could only nod his head in agreement. His face grew even redder as Nel's grin widened even more and she got up and started walking to Harribel's table. As soon as Nel left the table, Grimmjow was able to regain his composure and he noticed the look on Starrk's face.

"Hey man, she's gonna introduce you to her, you'd better not fuck this up," he said.

"Easy for you to say," Starrk muttered.

"Come on, man, this might be good for ya," Grimmjow continued, trying to rally some confidence in his friend.

"Hey Tia," Nel shouted in her usual cheerful tone.

"Oh, hey, Nel, how've you been?" Harribel asked.

"Oh, I'm doing great," Nel said.

"I bet. Hey, I saw what you did to that pervert. Nice job," Harribel said, smiling.

"That was no big deal. Nnoitora had it coming and I simply delivered. Anyways, I wanted to introduce you to a dear friend of mine," Nel said and pointed at Starrk.

Apacci looked at Starrk and only grunted under her breath. Mila Rose tried to suppress a giggle after she saw how red Starrk's face was, something she didn't notice when she was yelling at him. Mila Rose was the type of girl who thought that guys who blushed a lot were "cute". Sung-Sun merely sighed and remained silent, although she did have a small smile on her face.

"You mean him? He's the guy who's been staring at me for a little over a week," Harribel said.

"See how he's blushing?" Nel asked, trying not to giggle.

"Yeah," Harribel said, sounding a little bit nervous. "He does that whenever he looks at me. At first I thought it was kinda cute, but now..."

"Aw now, he's not what you think. Starrk's just a little shy, he's not like Captain Pervo over there," Nel said as she gestured at Nnoitora who was sitting with Tesla.

"Well…I don't know," Harribel said.

"Come on, I'll introduce you. When you see what kinda guy he is, I'm sure you'll hit it off," Nel said, trying to make Harribel comfortable with the idea.

"Well…" Harribel said.

"Don't worry, if he tries anything, we'll kick his ass," Apacci said.

Harribel was reluctant at first, but then she remembered what Sung-Sun told her in class. She decided that it might be interesting to talk to her admirer. Plus, she wanted to know why he had been staring at her. She never got a direct answer from Sung-Sun about that.

"Oh…alright," Harribel said as she got out of her seat.

"Oh no," Starrk muttered when he noticed Nel and Harribel walking towards them.

"Come on, man, get a grip. She's coming this way," Grimmjow whispered. "You don't want to look like a dumbass."

"Easy for you to say," Starrk muttered.

"Hey Starrk, this is Tia Harribel," Nel said, a little too gleefully. "Tia, this is Starrk. We've been friends since kindergarten, so I can vouch for him."

"He-he-hello," Starrk said.

"Um, hello," Harribel said, glancing at Nel who only nodded at her. "I've noticed that you've been staring at me for some time. I'm rather flattered that someone like you would notice me like that, although I'm a bit confused. Why would you spend so much time looking at me?"

"Well…uh," Starrk said, trying to regain his composure. "It's…it's just…there's something about you that…that just entrances me."

Harribel looked at him. She was not only extremely beautiful, but she was also extremely intelligent and perceptive. She had heard more than her fare share of pick-up lines at both her old school and at Las Noches High, especially from Nnoitora. However, before Starrk could say anything more, the bell signaling the end of lunch rang.

"Come on, bro, we need to get to class," Yylfordt said, placing a hand on Starrk's shoulder.

"Oh…uh…alright," Starrk said. "I…I guess I'll see you in class, Harribel."

Before Harribel could say anything else, Starrk grabbed his bag and rushed out. Grimmjow rolled his eyes and grabbed his own bag before jogging after him. She looked over at Nel who simply shrugged.

"I told you he was shy," Nel said.

"Yeah…I can see that," Harribel replied.

"Oh well, at least you have Science with him next, right?"

"Yeah…I suppose I can ask him about it then."

"Isn't today the day when Mr. Urahara assigns lab partners?"

"Well…yeah…so?"

"So…you might get lucky and get paired with him. Well, I better get going. I don't want to be late for class."

"Uh…sure," Harribel said.

_**Grimmjow**_

"Damn it, Starrk, way to blow your chance," Grimmjow muttered under his breath.

While Starrk was heading to Urahara's Science class, he was heading to Ukitake's History class. Grimmjow couldn't believe that Starrk lost his composure. Grimmjow only wished the best for Starrk, but he felt that Starrk missed a perfect opportunity. As a result, Grimmjow was in a bad mood. It didn't help that he saw an all-too familiar student at their locker.

"Well, well, well," Grimmjow said. "If it isn't the Bat King; how's it going you majesty?"

"Keep quiet, Grimm-Kitty," Ulquiorra replied in his usual monotone. "I do not have time to waste with trash like you."

"Kiss my ass, Emo!" Grimmjow snapped. "Or perhaps you would like to suck my dick."

"How vulgar…" Ulquiorra said.

"Stop being such a pompous li'l rich bitch, Pale Boy. Oh…that's right…you've always been a li'l rich bitch, and you always will be."

"And you will always be a pathetic little dirt-eater, living in a shack. Now then, you will excuse me, Sir Blueberry Kitty, I must get to class."

However, this little exchange only made Grimmjow in an even worse mood. As Ulquiorra headed to Urahara's class, Grimmjow made his own way to Ukitake's class. He did not pay attention to anyone around him.

"That fucking, walking little pile of bat shit. Who does he think he is? Thinks he's better than the rest of us…one of these days…oh yeah…I'll show him…" Grimmjow muttered.

Grimmjow huffed his way down the hall. He was muttering all of the things that he would like to do Ulquiorra and did not see the girl ahead of him. They collided and the girl and both were knocked to the floor. The girl's books went flying out of her hands and crashed onto the floor, and some even struck Grimmjow in the head. Grimmjow got up, rubbing his head and wanted to scream at the student. He opened his mouth to do just that when he saw that he had just run into Nelliel.

"Ow…that hurt," Nel said, looking up at Grimmjow.

"Oh…uh…I'm…are you alright? You know, you should be more careful where you're going."

"Ha! You're one to talk. You're the one who ran into me."

"Oh…I'm…I'm sorry," Grimmjow said and helped Nel off the floor. He then proceeded to pick up her books. "So…anyways…I never caught your name."

"That means that you weren't listening when I was talking with Starrk. Well…I hope you're listening now. My name's Nelliel Tu Odelschwank, but you can just call me 'Nel' for short, alright?"

Nel held out her hand to Grimmjow. Grimmjow took her hand and shook it.

"I'm…uh…my name's Sir Blueberry Kitty…SHIT!"

Grimmjow could not believe that he had introduced himself to Nel with Ulquiorra's ridiculous nickname for him. He felt a combination of confusion and embarrassment. Nel, however, was unable to control her giggling. She was amused at Grimmjow's embarrassment. This caused him to become even more embarrassed.

"Surely that's not your real name," Nel said, still giggling.

"It's not, that's just something that Batman calls me," Grimmjow said.

"Oh, you mean you know the Caped Crusader?"

"Not that Batman, I meant Ulquiorra."

"Oh, too bad, I would have liked to meet the Caped Crusader some time. So…what is your real name?"

"It's Grimmjow, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, but my friends call me 'Grimm' sometimes."

"Well…Grimm…I'm heading for Mr. Ukitake's History class and I'm kinda running a little bit late."

"Wow, what a coincidence! I've got the same class next. Do you mind if I walk with you?"

"Sure, I don't mind. You seem kinda nice, in a rough and off-beat kinda way. Plus, you're one of Starrkey's buddies, and a friend of Starrk's is a friend of mine."

Grimmjow wasn't sure how to respond. However, the smile on Nel's face told him that he probably struck something.

"Well…we better get going," Nel said. "We don't want to be too late."

"Yeah, and we better hope we don't run into Rudobon and his squad of 'Exequias'."

The two walked side-by-side towards Ukitake's History class.

_**Starrk**_

"Alright class, now that we've gotten the hang of things, I think that it's time that I announce your assigned lab partners," Mr. Urahara said. "Now, keep in mind that you will have the same lab partner for the rest of the year."

Hearing this announcement caused a great deal of excitement. Starrk looked at Harribel, hoping that he would be assigned with her. The first pair that was formed was Avirama with Findor. The two gave each other high-fives.

"LET'S DO THIS!" Avirama cried out. "I CAN DO THIS! I CAN DO THIS! I CAN DO THIS!"

"EXACTA!" Findor cried out.

"Alright, settle down you two," Urahara said, waving his fan at them. "Alright, the next pair will be Ulquiorra and Sung-Sun."

Ulquiorra was surprised to find himself paired with one of Harribel's friends, but he simply shrugged it off. Sung-Sun only looked at Ulquiorra and figured that he would make a decent lab partner. She figured that at least with him she could get her assignments done with very little chance of distractions.

"Alright, moving along, Mila Rose, you're going to be partnered with Ggio."

"WHAT?" the two yelled at the same time.

"Now, now," Urahara said, waving his fan at them. "I know how much you like to argue. This might actually be good for you. You never know, you might actually get along."

"Yeah right," Ggio snarled.

"That ain't gonna happen," Mila Rose grunted.

"Anyways," Urahara said. "Shawlong, you'll be paired with Yylfordt."

"Right on bro," Yylfordt said.

"Don't call me 'bro'," Shawlong said, clearly not pleased.

"Moving along, our next pairing will be Nakeem and Di Roy."

When Urahara announced that the two class idiots…on second thought…the two _school_ idiots would be working together in lab, the other students began to feel really uneasy. Ulquiorra slapped his hand to his face. Urahara continued to list the pairs and he paused at the final two, thinking and then nodded to himself.

"Alright, our next pairing will be Nirgge and Edorad. That brings us to our final pairing: Starrk and Harribel," he said, with a slight grin on his face.

Starrk felt excited about being paired with Harribel, but he also felt a little nervous. On the one hand, it was a great opportunity for him to find out more about her, but on the other hand, it would also give her friends plenty of reasons to yell at him. He saw Yylfordt grinning at him and giving a thumbs-up while Mila Rose glowered at him.

Harribel looked at Starrk. She had to admit that from what she saw of him, he was one of the more calm (sane) students who attended Las Noches High. Although, he was obviously shy around her. Harribel thought that this would provide the perfect opportunity to find out why. All that Sung-Sun told her was that she thought that Starrk liked her, but she wanted more information.

"Alright, now that we got that out of the way…are there any questions?" Urahara asked.

"Yes," Ulquiorra said. "Why…in the name of all that is holy…did you put…THOSE TWO TOGETHER?"

Ulquiorra pointed to Di Roy and Nakeem, who were laughing like a couple of lunatics.

"Huh huh huh, we get to blow things up, huh huh huh," Nakeem said.

"Hee hee hee FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" Di Roy shouted.

"Oh…I'm just curious to see how those two will fare. That's all," Urahara said.

"You do realize that if they just happen to burn the school down, you will be held responsible, right?" Ulquiorra asked.

"EXACTA!" Findor cried out.

"Now, now, why would a handsome, sexy, and young Science teacher like me be held responsible for a small accident?" Urahara asked.

"EXACTA!" Findor cried out again.

Starrk felt uneasy about the sly and mischievous smile on Urahara's face. From what he heard from his Uncle Shu, Kisuke Urahara was not like most teachers when it came to dealing with students like Nakeem and Di Roy. While other teachers would make sure that if there was even the slightest chance that those two would either hurt themselves or others, they would make sure those two were separated or not even participate. Urahara, however, preferred to have them learn the hard way: if they didn't listen, then they would have to deal with the consequences. However, Starrk had a suspicion that Urahara did it for his own personal amusement.

As Ulquiorra continued to give Urahara the "third degree", Harribel observed her other prospects for lab partners. She found that Starrk really was the best option. He would probably be more fun to work with than the over-calculating Ulquiorra. He would not try anything funny on her like Ggio would. She didn't even want to consider about being paired with either Di Roy or Nakeem.

"Thank you for your concerns, Mr. Schiffer," Urahara said. "But, I think everything will be fine. Anyways, I would like you to get with your lab partners. The first lab exercise you'll be doing together is the exercise on pages 4-7 in your lab books. Alright, you will have the remainder of the class to work on your assignment."

When Urahara finished speaking, the students got up from their seats to meet with their lab partners. They made sure to get a lab table as far away from Di Roy and Nakeem, who were still laughing, as they could.

"So…uh," Starrk said, walking to Harribel's table. "Looks like we're lab partners."

"Yeah," Harribel said. "Although, before we start our assignment, let's finish that conversation."

"What conversation?"

"The one we had at lunch. You told me that you found something entrancing about me. What I want to know is: what is it about me that you find so captivating about me?"

"Well…I…"Starrk muttered, blushing. He thought about it for a moment and then he found the courage to answer her. "It's your eyes. You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen, and there's something about them that I find so captivating."

Harribel was taken aback at his response. She had never met a guy who told her that her eyes were the source of their captivation with her. She had expected Starrk to be like all of the other guys she encountered and only be captivated by her body. Sometimes, guys would tell her that they were "attracted to her mind" when in reality they were only attracted to her body. She looked at Starrk, searching for any of the tell-tale signs that he was lying that her aunt, Yoruichi Shihoin, told her to look for. However, she did not see any of those signs.

"You're drawn to my eyes? Why would you say that?"

"Well…because, your eyes radiate an air of serenity. When I look into your eyes, I don't only see a young woman who is physically beautiful and strong, but I also see someone who is intelligent and who cares for others."

Harribel felt her face growing hot. She could not believe what she was hearing. Of course, she continually experienced guys trying to make passes at her. However, this was the first time she experienced someone who laid it on so thick. However, the thing that frightened her was that Starrk really meant it.

She couldn't help but smile a little bit. This was the first time she encountered someone who seemed to love her for her heart and mind and not just for her body. For the first time in a long time, she actually felt happy and comfortable around a guy. This was a major leap forward for her, especially since she was able to get out of a rather bad relationship before she moved. That relationship had been hell-on-earth for her. She didn't know that Starrk had also been in a relationship that had been an absolute nightmare. As the class continued, the two became more comfortable around each other, until their initial anxieties were a mere shadow.

Sung-Sun looked over at Harribel and Starrk and smiled. She wanted to rush over the Harribel and Starrk and hug them both. Even though she didn't know Starrk that well, she thought that he was an overall good person. She felt that Harribel deserved someone like him, and so did not elaborate on what she knew to her friend. Even though Harribel tried to get her to explain things in greater detail, Sung-Sun decided not to. She wanted Harribel to get to know Starrk, and if she had to force herself to say "Hi" to him, then so be it.

"They look so cute together," Sung-Sun said.

"Hmmm…what are you mumbling about?" Ulquiorra asked.

"Oh…I was just saying that Harribel and Starrk look like they're getting along."

"Hmmm, so it would seem. How intriguing. Now then, let us proceed to step 17 and make sure to take notes on the outcome."

"Indeed," Sung-Sun said. "That way we can reach our overall conclusions for the experiment."

"Agreed," Ulquiorra said and he added in the last group of chemicals. The two watched as the chemical reaction took place and took extremely detailed notes on what they observed.

Mila Rose stopped arguing with Ggio over what to do at step five in the lab exercise long enough to see Harribel and Starrk. She could not understand how Harribel could become so comfortable around him so quickly. She would have to explain things to Apacci, because according to Sung-Sun's expression, she was not going to be any help. The mere thought of going to Apacci to help her with anything made her disgusted. However, this was to protect their friend, and that took first priority over her rivalry with Apacci.

At their table, Di Roy and Nakeem decided that they wanted to do their own little "experiment". They picked up random chemicals and metals to see what "nifty colors" they could make. When Nirgge and Edorad saw what they were doing, they immediately backed away. It was a good thing too. Shortly after they started their little "experiment", they succeeded in blowing up most of their table.

"HEE HEE HEE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" Di Roy shrieked.

"OH, YOU WANNA PLAY?" Avirama shouted. "WE'RE GONNA BEAT YA! WE'RE GONNA BEAT YA! YOU CALL THAT AN EXPLOSION? THAT'S NOTHING! C'MON FINDOR, LET'S SHOW BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD WHAT WE'RE MADE OF."

"EXACTA!" Findor shouted.

"SHIT!" Mila Rose and Ggio shrieked and ducked under their table as another explosion came from Findor and Avirama's table.

"YEAH! WE BEAT YA!" Avirama shouted.

"EXACTA!"

"THAT'S IT! I'M GONNA KILL YOU BOTH!" Ggio yelled.

"NOT BEFORE I DO!" Mila Rose shouted.

Urahara reached under his desk and brought out his fire extinguisher. His grin was even wider than it was before. Di Roy and Nakeem were laughing even harder and Avirama was doing his "ritual", which consisted entirely of jumping and screaming.

"Those fools are trying to get us all killed," Shawlong said.

Yylfordt did not pay any attention to what Shawlong said. He was looking over at Harribel and Starrk who were looking at the chaos caused by the two pairs. He smiled when he saw that the tips of their fingers were touching.

"Way to go, bro," he whispered. "It's about time."

_**Grimmjow**_

"Alright, class," Ukitake said. "Over the year, you will be assigned class exercises that will require another pair of hands. I have already made up the list of 'study buddies' and the duos will be for the year."

Grimmjow looked interested at that. He was sitting next to Nel. Ever since the "Spoon Cheerleader" incident, he began to develop feelings for her. However, he wasn't quite sure with exactly what these feelings were. All that he knew was that there was something special about Nel. He found himself wishing that he would be paired with Nel.

"Alright, let's see. The first pair of 'study buddies' is Tesla with Apacci."

Tesla looked up in surprise and horror. He looked at Apacci, who was glaring at him.

"If you even try to touch me…I'll fucking kill you," she said.

Tesla grew pale and looked at Nnoitora, who was too busy looking at a group of girls to even notice.

"This ought to be interesting," Nel whispered.

"Yeah, no shit," Grimmjow said. "I wonder which will come first: Apacci killing Tesla, or Tesla killing himself since he can't be with Spoonhead."

"Alright, our next pairing is Szayel Aporro and Charles Cuuhlhourne…"

"That's Charlotte Cuuhlhourne, Mr. Ukitake."

"Oh, sorry, I meant Szayel Aporro Granz and Charlotte Cuuhlhourne," Ukitake said as he made sure that the roster said "Charlotte Cuuhlhourne".

"That's better," Cuuhlhourne said and looked at Szayel Aporro. "Oh God, I have to be paired up with that ingrate. He has no sense of beauty, what-so-ever."

Szayel Aporro, however, was too busy working on one of his inventions to even notice that he was paired with Cuuhlhourne. Ukitake simply smiled at them and read the next pairing: Grimmjow and Nel. Grimmjow was taken aback, but he didn't mind. This would give him the opportunity to spend more time with her.

"Well, Grimm," Nel said, nudging him in the shoulder with her elbow, "looks like we're gonna be spending quite a bit of time with each other. Think you can handle it?"

"Oh yeah, I think I can handle it," Grimmjow replied, smiling. Grimmjow was the type of guy who didn't mind being with a strong woman. Although, he would have take a few playful jabs or even a few knocks on the head. Ukitake finished reading off the pairings, with the last pair being Yammy and Poww.

"Hmmm…you know…I wonder how Szayel Aporro will react when he finds out he's being paired with Cuuhlhourne," Nel said, putting her right forefinger under her chin and looking up at the ceiling.

"Oh God…" Grimmjow said, laughing, "I bet the look on his face will be PRICELESS! I can just hear him now: 'Ah God, I have to be with THAT monstrosity? He's nothing more than an over-grown clown with no sense of fashion at all,'" Grimmjow said, doing a rather excellent impersonation of Szayel Aporro.

Nel couldn't help but go into a laughing fit. If there was one thing that Nel enjoyed, it was a good laugh. That was one of the reasons that she was friends with Starrk and his sister, Lilynette. Of course, Grimmjow also enjoyed a good laugh, but it usually came at the expense of Szayel Aporro or Ulquiorra.

Even though the assigned pairing of Szayel Aporro and Cuuhlhourne was bad enough, it wasn't the worst. Out of all of the other students, Nnoitora had the worst assigned "study buddy". He was assigned to a rather effeminate and flamboyant and sadistic student named Luppi Antenor. However, the "Spoon Wonder" didn't know that Luppi was actually a guy.

"Heh heh, hey there sweet cheeks," Nnoitora said, smirking. "What do you say that we get to know each other a little better? How about having a wild time tonight, eh?"

Luppi looked at Nnoitora. He wanted to tell him that he was actually a guy, but then he came up with a wicked idea. Luppi had a rather mean-streak to him and he liked to make people miserable and it was even rumored that he actually got-off on it. Hence he was viewed as a sadist. He saw Nnoitora's advancement as a wonderful opportunity to have some real fun.

"Oh my…" Luppi said, giving the "Spoon Wonder" a rather seductive smirk in return. "I would simply LOVE to go out with you tonight, Nnoitora. You're so tall and sexy, how could I resist?"

"Oh yeah…someone's getting lucky tonight!" Nnoitora said as he made pelvic thrusts.

Grimmjow simply laughed like a hyena. Nel looked at him, confused and then over at Nnoitora and Luppi.

"Grimm, why are you laughing? Aren't you worried that poor girl might get hurt or even raped?" Nel asked.

"Nah, I'm not worried about Luppi. I'm more worried about Nnoitora's sanity, well, what little he has of it, after tonight," Grimmjow said, trying to control his laughter.

"What are you talking about?" Nel asked, confused.

"Well…you see…" Grimmjow said, and then he burst out into wild laughter. "Luppi…Luppi's not a girl, he's a guy. Nobody…hahahahahaha…nobody even told that dumbass Spoon that critical piece of information."

Nel looked at Grimmjow, her eyes wide. Then she also burst into laughter. She knew all too well just how much of a womanizing pervert Nnoitora was. She thought about the look on Nnoitora's face when he found out that Luppi was actually a guy.

"AT LAST, MY LATEST CREATION IS DONE!" Szayel Aporro shouted. "And this time…there's absolutely no way I'll be made to look like a laughing-stock."

He looked at the pair of glasses in his hand that he labeled as "Pleasant Sight Glasses" and put them on. They weren't only a perfect fit, but they also seemed to actually work. The "Pleasant Sight Glasses" had the ability to make everything that the wearer saw fit their aesthetic taste. Unfortunately, it also affected the other senses as well. It caused the wearer to smell what they thought were pleasant smells and it caused them to hear what they thought pleasant to hear.

Soon, Szayel Aporro was face-to-face with the most gorgeous girl he ever saw. The girl smelled of his mother's perfume and her long, purple hair shone in the light. He felt his heart skip a beat being in her mere presence.

"Um, Szayel," the girl said in a rather musical tone, "We're supposed to be lab partners."

"Of course," Szayel replied, "it would be my pleasure to work with such a beautiful young lady as yourself."

Szayel then took the "girl's" hand and kissed it. However, at that moment, Yammy looked towards him and saw what Szayel was doing.

"GOOD GOD!" Yammy shouted in a frightened tone. "SZAYEL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? TAKE OFF THE GLASSES, QUICKLY!"

Szayel Aporro was confused by Yammy's request, but he shrugged it off. He thought that it was merely the attempts of a "simpleton" to make him fall for a practical joke. However, when Poww walked past, he simply grunted and took the glasses off Szayel Aporro. The boy genius blinked and looked around. He saw that the beautiful girl was gone, and in her place stood Cuuhlhourne, smirking at him.

"WHAT IS THIS?" Szayel Aporro cried out. "WHERE'S MY LITTLE QUEEN BUTTERFLY?"

"I'm afraid that I'M your 'Queen Butterfly' my dorky little friend," Cuuhlhourne said, blowing Szayel Aporro a kiss.

The entire class burst out laughing. Ukitake tried to settle them down, but it was no use. Of course, it was just a tad too much for Ukitake to handle and he had to step outside for a quick breather.

"HYAHAHAHAHAHA! Your invention might have worked, but YOU still failed, Nerd Boy," Nnoitora said, laughing like a lunatic. He didn't realize that he would have his own little "rude awakening" with Luppi later.

When Ukitake returned, he was able to get the students to settle down. However, he had a difficult time getting Szayel Aporro to calm down and had to enlist the aid of Poww and Yammy. The reason was because as soon as the boy genius remembered kissing the "girl's" hand, he completely lost his composure. When Szayel Aporro did calm down, Ukitake went ahead with his class. When the bell rang, he gave out the class assignment.

"Now, now," he said when he heard some of his students groaning. "I don't like giving out homework either, but I have to do my job. Hey, look at it this way, this will be a great opportunity for you to get to know your 'study buddies'."

"What the hell's wrong with you, Blue Balls?" Nnoitora cried out, seeing Grimmjow's grin. "Why the fuck are you smiling? I thought that you hated doing homework more than anyone."

"First off, you're one to talk about blue balls, Captain Spoon. Second, you'd be smiling too if you were paired off with a hottie like Nelliel Tu Odelschwank."

"Listen, you fucking pussy," Nnoitora said, sounding extremely angry. "I saw that bitch first, so you better keep away, or else I'll make you pay. I'm gonna make her one of my sluts."

Unfortunately for Nnoitora, Nel was close enough to hear him. Even though she usually had a gentle nature and could take a joke and even good-natured ribbings, she had her limits, especially with people like Nnoitora. She walked up to them and they looked over at her.

"Excuse me, Nnoitora," she said, and Grimmjow noticed that her usual cheerful tone had been replaced with one that was far more serious. "I was wondering about WHAT exactly you called me."

"You heard me, BITCH!" Nnoitora said. "Whether you like it or not, you're gonna be one of my little pets."

Grimmjow's rage grew at each passing word that came from the foul student's mouth. Hearing Nnoitora mock a girl whom he had his own sights on made him want to beat up the tall and scrawny student. However, before he could make his move, Nel struck. She kicked Nnoitora in the groin, sending him to his knees. Then Nel punched him in the nose, causing it to break. Nnoitora clutched his nose with one hand, but blood trickled from between his fingers.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Nnoitora shrieked. "TESLA!"

Grimmjow suddenly remembered Nnoitora's follower. He turned, prepared to hold the little guy back if he had to. However, he didn't have to worry about him. He saw that Yammy and Apacci were holding the struggling student.

"Let me go, I have to help Master Nnoitora," he said.

"Oh no, you don't…I heard what he called Nel. Nobody…and I mean NOBODY makes fun of a friend of Lady Harribel and gets away with it," Apacci said.

"Uh…yeah…whatever," Yammy said. "Hey Grimmjow, what should I do with him?"

"Just keep holding him, Yammy," Grimmjow said and turned back to Nel and Nnoitora.

Nnoitora got up to attack, and Grimmjow was getting ready to jump in. However, Nel had things under control. She leapt into the air and kicked Nnoitora in the stomach. As she landed, she grabbed him by where his nipples were and she planted one foot firmly on his balls. Nnoitora's face contorted into pain. Seeing his master in such pain caused Tesla to struggle even harder. However, Yammy and Apacci tightened their grips on him.

"Listen to me," Apacci whispered into Tesla's ear. "You didn't do anything wrong. That's why I'm not beating you to a pulp. However, if you keep struggling, I'll make sure that you're in a wheelchair for a whole month. Got it?"

Tesla couldn't say anything. He only nodded his head. Apacci felt a little sorry for the poor guy, but it was his fault for hanging around someone like Nnoitora.

"Now then, Nnoitora, if you'll be a good boy and apologize, then I'll let go," Nel said. Her face had that mischievous grin and her eyes flashed.

"FUCK YOU!" Nnoitora cried out.

"That's not an apology," Nel said.

She tightened her grip on Nnoitora's nipples and turned her wrist slightly as though she was screwing in a light bulb. Grimmjow simply stood where he was and watched Nelliel make Nnoitora squirm. He found himself falling deeper and deeper in love with her.

"Come on, Nnoitora, say 'uncle'. Say 'uncle' and apologize and I'll…" she said, squeezing Nnoitora's nipples even tighter and twisting even harder, "…let you go."

"OKAY, OKAY, OKAY! UNCLE! UNCLE! UNCLE!" Nnoitora cried out. "Now let go."

"I'm still waiting for that apology," Nel said, twisting his nipples even harder as she put more pressure on the foot that was squashing Nnoitora's balls.

"Okay…okay…I…I'm sorry," Nnoitora gasped.

"What are you sorry for?"

"I'm sorry I called you a 'Bitch' and a 'Slut'. Now…now please…let go."

"Well…I did say that I would let you go," Nel said and released her grip on Nnoitora's breasts and moved her foot to the side.

Nnoitora limped away from her. He kept looking over his shoulders, afraid that Nel might try something else on him. However, she just stood there and Nnoitora ran…or at least he tried to run…down the hall.

"Sorry about that, Grimm," Nel said.

"Huh?" Grimmjow said, still caught up in his euphoria.

"MASTER NNOITORA!" Tesla screamed.

"Oh…" Grimmjow said, coming out of his euphoria. "I forgot about him. Hey, Yammy, Apacci, I think you can let him go now. I don't think he'll try anything."

Yammy and Apacci released the struggling student who rushed down the hall in the direction that Nnoitora went. Nel followed Tesla's path and looked sorry for the student. Grimmjow had to admit that he also felt a little sorry for Tesla.

"Well…anyways, I'm sorry about that Grimm. It's just that Nnoitora really gets on my nerves."

"Eh…don't worry about it. I would have taken care of the little shit easily. Though, I have to admit, it was kinda hot seeing you completely humiliate him like that."

Nel giggled after hearing him say that. Grimmjow couldn't help but notice that she blushed slightly. Nelliel was not a violent person and would never use violence to get her way. However, if someone threatened her or one of her friends, then she was more than willing to get violent.

This was the first time that Grimmjow really saw her get violent, but Starrk had seen her get that way before. Later that day, when Grimmjow told Starrk about it, Starrk would tell him that he made the right decision in not getting involved.

Starrk would tell him, "Whenever she gets that look on her face, it's best to keep your distance. Otherwise, you might wind up on the receiving end yourself…purely by accident of course." After Starrk said that, Grimmjow became glad that Starrk kept him from going out into the hall that first day.

"Well…I better get going," Nel said. "I don't want to be late for another class. Besides, I _really_ need to wash my hands before I have to amputate them."

"Sure, no problem," Grimmjow said.

"Well, I'll see you later," she said.

"Sure thing," Grimmjow said.

At that moment, Principal Luisenbarn's voice came over the loudspeakers.

"ATTENTION, ALL STUDENTS, I HAVE A VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT. TOMORROW, WE ARE HOSTING STUDENTS FROM KARAKURA HIGH AND ON FRIDAY WE ARE HOSTING STUDENTS FROM SEIREITEI HIGH. THIS IS FOR THE NEW INTER-SCHOOL RELATIONS PROGRAM. I EXPECT YOU TO BE ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOR FOR THEM. ANYONE WHO'S MISBEHAVING, OR IS IN ANYWAY BEING A POOR REPRESENTATIVE FOR LAS NOCHES HIGH WILL RECEIVE AN AUTOMATIC DETENTION. I WILL HAVE RUDOBON AND THE 'EXEQUIAS' ON DUTY ALL DAY. THEY HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE AUTHORITY TO GIVE STUDENTS DETENTION FOR TOMORROW AND FRIDAY ONLY. THAT IS ALL."

"Huh…I forgot about that," Nel said.

"Wait a minute, you KNEW about this?" Grimmjow asked in surprise.

"Well…sure, my mom's on the School Board and she thought it would be a good idea for students from the three high schools visit each other from time-to-time. You know, as a way for people from the various schools to get to know each other."

"Oh…I was wondering about that. Well, we better get to our next classes. The last thing we need is for a lecture on promptness."

"Yeah," Nel said and the two went their own way.

_**Starrk**_

Starrk and Harribel stopped to listen to Baraggan's message. When he was finished they continued walking down the hall.

"That should be interesting," Harribel said.

"What?"

"Well, meeting students from another school."

"Oh…yeah…I don't know…I wonder what they're like."

Harribel nudged Starrk in the side and Starrk looked at her in surprise.

"When did you start becoming like Lilynette?"

"Who?"

"Lilynette, my sister."

"Oh…does she have short light blonde hair and kinda pink eyes?"

"Yeah, that's her. Do you know her?"

"I saw her the first day of school, during PE class. She was watching you get chased around by that adorable little girl."

"Ugh…don't remind me."

"So, her name's Lilynette?"

"Yeah."

"Hmmm, I would like to get to know her a little better," Harribel said.

"Sure, I think you two will like each other."

The two continued walking towards their next classes. Starrk had Algebra 2 with Miss Ise while Harribel had art with Mr. Ayasegawa. However, both still had plenty of time to get to their class. Harribel had even more time to spare since Yumichika Ayasegawa was known to be "fashionably late" for his classes.

"So…uh…out of curiosity, are you doing anything Saturday?" Starrk asked.

"Not that I know of, why?"

"Well…I was thinking…uh…would you like to catch a movie or something?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

"Huh…what…no…no, I…I was thinking it would be fun. Plus, we can work on our homework and…"

Harribel giggled as she watched Starrk's face take on a severe fire-engine red. He brushed his hand through his hair and he allowed his blue-grey eyes to look around.

"It sounds like fun," Harribel said, smiling.

"Really, well…in that case, how about I pick you up around 3 or so?"

"Sounds great, but let me give you my address first," Harribel said and took out a slip of paper and pen. After writing her address, she folded the piece of paper and handed it to Starrk.

"Uh…thanks," Starrk said.

"No problem, well, I'd better get to my next class. I'll see you later Starrk," she said and started walking to the art room.

"Sure thing, Bel," Starrk said and he made his own way to Miss Ise's class. He didn't see Harribel stop and turn around with an expression of shock on her face.

_**Harribel**_

When she heard Starrk call her "Bel" she couldn't help but stop and stare after him. Harribel knew that she was blushing. She was surprised that Starrk even thought about calling her that. She realized that she didn't seem to mind Starrk calling her "Bel", even though she never allowed anyone outside of her family or closest friends to call her that. She didn't really understand why she was allowing Starrk to become an exception.

Throughout her art class, Harribel continued to think about Starrk calling her "Bel" and how that made her feel. Throughout the week, Tia Harribel showed that she possessed a great deal of artistic talent. Despite having a different aesthetic value, Yumichika continually praised her work and would even hang some of her drawings and paintings on the wall. Despite the other gaudy decorations, her art stood out and many of the students would find themselves staring at her pieces instead of Yumichika's flamboyant decorations.

While she thought about the reasons why Starrk was becoming so special to her, she managed to sketch out a Victorian-era gentleman. However, this gentleman had shoulder-length unkempt hair and his chin had a faded goatee. When Tia saw her picture, she immediately started to blush. She looked around to see if anyone had seen what she'd drawn. She was about to put it away when the drawing was taken from her hand. Harribel looked up and saw Yumichika examining her drawing.

"Hmmm…interesting subject…" he said, smiling slightly, and put it face-down on her desk.

Even though Yumichika was as vain as the peacocks he adored, he was also a romantic at heart. He always seemed to know when a student was in love, and he saw that Harribel was clearly in love with someone. When he saw Harribel's subject, he knew immediately that she was falling in love with Starrk.

"Now," he said to himself, "if only she would start focusing more on peacocks."

_**Starrk**_

In Algebra 2, Starrk was sleeping, as usual, and Miss Ise was starting to become extremely annoyed by it. Many of the students noticed that as Starrk slept, he had a slight smile. Most of these, including Shawlong, simply dismissed it as him merely napping. However, a few others, such as Yylfordt thought that he was having very pleasant dreams about a certain girl. Miss Ise looked over at Starrk, and had enough. She walked over to his desk and slammed her book down on his desk. Starrk woke up, although his eyes were barely open.

"Mr. Starrk," she said, "since you slept through my lecture, you perhaps thought that you didn't need to hear me explain about how to find the values for unknown variables. Would you care to answer, for the class, the problem on the board?"

She pointed to the problem on the board. It was an extremely lengthy word problem, complete with an equally lengthy math formula. It was one of those problems that also involved finding the solutions to x and y to reach the final answer. Starrk barely looked at it before dropping his head back to his desk.

"43.97, or 44 if you round up," he said before falling back to sleep.

Miss Ise looked at him, mouth gaping. She rushed to her notes to see if he was right, and saw to her surprise that he was. She looked at Starrk, completely surprised that she ignored the sounds of most of her students giggling and snickering. Shawlong looked at Starrk, his eyes wide, but he was rather impressed since the only other student who could have solved that kind of problem in so little time and with so little effort was Skullak Tuma. After recovering from her slight embarrassment, Miss Ise continued with her class, explaining how one could reach the answer for the problem that Starrk gave.

When the bell rang, signaling the end of class and the end of school, Miss Ise couldn't help but look at Starrk as he left. She then looked at the problem on the board and shook her head.

"How did he do that?" she asked herself.

_**Parking Lot**_

The students left the school in varying degrees of chaos and order. Starrk met up with Lilynette, who was in her usual chipper and mischievous mood. As he walked out, he saw Grimmjow standing at the front door, as if he was waiting for someone. As Harribel made her way to her car, she saw Starrk and Lilynette, whom she immediately recognized from her first day. Lilynette looked around and saw Momo talking with Kiyone.

"Hey, Starrk, I'm gonna talk with Momo and Kiyone for a bit," she said as she dashed towards them.

"Okay, but don't wander off too far," Starrk said, keeping an eye on his little sister who was waving at her two friends. "So," Starrk said as he leaned against the wall next to Grimmjow, "what're you still doing here?"

"Well…I wanted to meet up with Nel after school. Why are you asking?" Grimmjow asked, rather annoyed.

"Oh…I see…" Starrk said and winked at Grimmjow, "I kinda figured that you had the hots for Nel. Am I right?"

"Oh shut up, Lone Wolf," Grimmjow growled. "You're no better with that blonde chick."

Starrk blushed slightly at that, and Grimmjow smiled. After a few seconds, Starrk regained his composure.

"Eh…just treat her right, man. She's an old friend of mine, and I would hate to have to beat you up if you did anything to hurt her. Well, I better get going. I'll see ya tomorrow."

"Yeah, see ya," Grimmjow said. "Don't forget, we're having visitors over."

"I know, that should be rather interesting," Starrk said as he made his way to his car. "Come on Lilynette, we need to get going."

"Alright," Lilynette cried out to her brother. "Sorry, guys, I gotta get going. I'll see ya tomorrow."

"Yeah, see ya tomorrow, Lily," Momo called out as Lilynette rushed to her brother.

Starrk ruffled Lilynette's hair as she got into the car. He closed the passenger door after her and got into the driver's seat. Harribel watched Starrk from her car. She finally understood what it was about Starrk that she liked. She admired his compassion for his friends and the devotion he showed to his younger sister. Tia realized that she was attracted to him. She was attracted to his sweet, compassionate, and sincere nature. Of course, there was a physical attraction there as well. After all she was a healthy teenage girl with hormones. She shook her head, trying to focus on getting home.

Meanwhile, Grimmjow still waited for Nel to leave. He watched the trickle of students coming out, looking for Nel.

"What's this? Is Sir Blueberry guarding the school?" someone asked.

Grimmjow turned and saw Ulquiorra looking at him.

"I'm just waiting for someone," Grimmjow said, ignoring him.

"What's this? Aren't you going to call me by some vulgar or idiotic nickname? The world must be coming to an end," Ulquiorra said, walking towards his car.

Grimmjow growled as Ulquiorra's Murciélago drove away. Then he saw Nel making her way to the entrance. When she saw him, she smiled.

"Sorry I'm late Grimm," she said. "I…kinda got held up a bit."

"Don't worry about it," Grimmjow said. "Let's get going. I'm not one who likes hanging around school after class."

"Sure," Nel said, and grinned at him, "and besides, you did offer to drive a lady home when were walking from Mr. Ukitake's class."

"Yeah, I did, there's no need to remind me. Come on, hop in," he said opening the passenger side door of his Jeep Pantera for her.

"Well thank you," she said as she got in and Grimmjow closed the door.

He made his way to the driver's side and got in. After he got his jeep started, he thought about what Nel said about being "held up". That made him curious.

"So," he said, "what did you keep you?"

"Hmm…oh, nothing important," she said, giving him her mischievous grin.

"Okay," Grimmjow replied, a slight grin spread on his face.

_**Nnoitora**_

Nnoitora was once again dressed in the cheerleader outfit. However, instead of being tied around the flag pole, he was dangling in the air from his right ankle from one of the raised basketball boards in the gym. Tesla rushed below him trying to find a way to get his master free, but was not having much success.

"GET ME DOWN!"

**End of Chapter 2**

**A.N.: First of all, I want to thank darkmachines for allowing me to use his OC, Skullak Tuma for my stories and for giving me information on him. Also, I want to thank Primera Starrk for his wonderful story "Fast Times at Hueco Mundo High", which served as the springboard that got this story going. Next chapter: the students at Las Noches High are "invaded" by students from Karakura High. Stay tuned.**


	3. Chapter 3: Visitors from Karakura High

**Life at Las Noches High**

**Chapter 3: Visitors from Karakura High**

Grimmjow sat in his jeep. He just couldn't believe that he was, once again, the first one there.

"Shit, this is getting ridiculous," he said.

He watched as the parking lot filled with cars and the busses pulled up. His fellow schoolmates filed into the school. He got out of his jeep when he saw Starrk's dusty grey Cadillac pulling into an empty spot. Lilynette rushed out and ran to meet her friends who were waiting at the front entrance for her.

"Lily, be careful. There are cars coming," Starrk called out after her.

"Hey man," Grimmjow said.

"Oh, hey, Grimm. How're things?"

"Good, so are you ready for our guests?"

"I guess," Starrk said, running his hand through his hair. "How about you?"

"Oh…I'm looking forward to this."

"Really? Why?"

"Oh…just you wait and see," Grimmjow said, grinning.

"Ohhhhhhhkay," Starrk said, rather confused.

The two made their way to the school, allowing themselves to be swept along with the tide of students. The noticed the students who lined the entryway, directing the students into the auditorium. Starrk and Grimmjow looked at each other.

"Who are these bozos?" Grimmjow asked.

Starrk looked at these students and noticed that they were all wearing the same thing: black pants, white shirt, and grey jacket buttoned up. They also wore a white-and-black sash across their chests. He then saw Rudobon, who was wearing the same uniform, except he also had a silver whistle around his neck. He also couldn't help but notice that they were all pale, scrawny, and the same height, except for one who was shorter and fat, but sported the same stern look on his flabby face.

"I think these must be the 'Exequias' that Baraggan and Rudobon have been going on about," Starrk said.

"Shit, they're kinda creepy," Grimmjow said. "I'm surprised that the Dark Lord hasn't joined them. He would fit right in."

"Yeah, they are creepy," Starrk said. "They all look…alike."

"Yeah, except for fatty over there," Grimmjow said pointing at the fat student.

"Still…" Starrk muttered.

"You two get a move on," Rudobon roared at Starrk and Grimmjow. "All students are to be in the auditorium and on time. Any student who is late will be given detention. Don't even think about talking back to me, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, or else I will give you detention."

Grimmjow shut his mouth and glared at Rudobon. Seeing that their leader was facing down a student, the other "Exequias" started to move forward. Rudobon raised a hand and they stopped. Starrk put his own hand on Grimmjow and shook his head.

"Tch, I guess I better get into the auditorium then. I wouldn't want to suffer 'Luisenbarn's Respira'," Grimmjow muttered.

"A wise idea, Grimmjow. And that's 'PRINCIPAL Luisenbarn's Respira'," Rudobon said.

"What's this about 'Principal Luisenbarn's Respira'?" someone asked from behind them.

The two turned and saw Nelliel Tu Odelschwank standing behind them. She had her turquoise-dyed hair tied back and the white beret was perched on her head. Starrk then saw Harribel and her three friends walking in. He raised his hand and waved and Harribel waved back.

"Oh…uh…hey, Nel," Grimmjow said. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, but back to my earlier question. What is this 'Principal Luisenbarn's Respira'? One of those creepy dudes mentioned something about it."

"It is Principal Luisenbarn's official name for the more harsh disciplinary measures. He only sentences students to them when he is most upset," a monotonous voice said.

"Well, well, well," Grimmjow said, a grin spread across his face. "If it isn't the Prince of Darkness himself?"

"OOOOOOOOH!" Nel shrieked. "You mean Ozzy Osbourne's here? Just kidding. Hello Ulquiorra, it's been a while."

"Hello Miss Odelschwank. I see that you are still your usual chipper self," Ulquiorra said.

"And you're your usual gloomy self," Nel said.

To Grimmjow's surprise, Ulquiorra did not retort as he would have done if he said that. Instead Ulquiorra nodded and gave a slight bow.

"Wait a minute," Grimmjow. "You two know each other?"

"Yeah, Ulqui and I knew each other in kindergarten."

"It's true," Starrk said. Grimmjow turned and looked at Starrk in surprise.

"You were actually FRIENDS with the Dark Lord, here?" he asked, shocked.

"We were not friends," Ulquiorra said. "We were merely acquaintances. I must say that at least these two have maintained a greater level of maturity than you, Mr. Boots."

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU CALL ME?" Grimmjow shouted.

"I called you 'Mr. Boots' as in Puss 'n Boots. Or perhaps you would prefer me to call you Sir Blueberry Muffin."

"HOW ABOUT I KICK YOUR ASS!"

"Oh, please, as if you could," Ulquiorra said.

"YOU WANNA FIGHT? FINE, I'LL FIGHT, LORD EMO."

"Oh, please, you are not even worth the effort."

"ARE YOU SCARED, QUEEN GOTH?"

"Like I said, you are not even worth the effort. Now if you will excuse me, I must get myself a seat. I suggest you do the same. Our guests should be arriving pretty soon."

With that, Ulquiorra turned and walked inside. Grimmjow glared at him. Starrk was worried that Grimmjow might go after Ulquiorra, but Grimmjow only stood where he was. Starrk noticed that the "Exequias" were looking in their direction. However, on seeing that they didn't need to get involved, they turned to look at the other students coming in.

"Fucking asshole," Grimmjow growled.

"C'mon Grimmy, let's get our seats," Nel said.

"Fine, fine, so long as we don't have to sit anywhere near the Dark Lord," Grimmjow growled.

"I don't think we'll have to worry about the Dark Lord," Nel said. "He's in Mordor."

Grimmjow burst out laughing. He loved how Nel could just state something so obviously ludicrous in such a deadpan manner. As they walked into the auditorium, they noticed that there were a lot more seats than usual and the seats on the left side of the auditorium were chained off.

"Damn, there must be a lot of visitors," Grimmjow said.

"Whatever," Starrk said, yawning.

"Come on man, you might wanna keep awake for this. I heard that some of the Karakura girls are cute," Grimmjow said with a smirk.

"Hmmm…you know I already like someone," Starrk said.

"I know that, but…" Grimmjow said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Hey, doesn't your rival go to Karakura?" Starrk asked, suddenly remembering something.

"Oh, yeah, 'Strawberry', I hope he comes. I'm gonna make sure that I kick his ass."

"What if he's not here, Grimm?"

"Then I'll still kick his ass," Grimmjow replied and burst out laughing.

They found three empty seats and sat down. Starrk leaned back in his seat, preparing himself for his first nap of the day when someone poked him in the side. He straightened and turned and saw Apacci sitting next to him.

"Hello, fucktard," she said.

"Uh…hey?" Starrk asked, uncertain of what to say.

"Apacci, what the fuck are you doing here?" Grimmjow asked.

"Shut it, Grimmjow, I'm talking to this pervert."

"And I told you that Starrk isn't a pervert."

"Right, like I'm gonna listen to you."

"Would you listen to me?" Nel asked. "After all, I'm one of Harribel's friends too."

"Well…in that case…"

"Apacci, what are you waiting for? Give him what he deserves," Mila Rose said, approaching them.

"Shut up, Mila Rose, I'm taking care of it."

"Well then DO it already. Make him pay for even TRYING to take advantage of Harribel."

"Uh…what are you talking about?" Starrk asked.

"Oh, don't play innocent," Mila Rose said. "I saw you with Mistress Harribel, yesterday. You may think that you've got her wrapped around your little finger…or perhaps your prick. But let me tell you something. You may think that you got our friend fooled, but we're onto you."

"Yeah, we'll be keeping our eyes on you."

"Apacci, Mila Rose, what are you two up to?" Tia Harribel asked, approaching them, followed by Sung-Sun.

Mila Rose and Apacci looked at their friend and put on the most innocent-looking smiles they possibly could. However, this only caused Harribel to raise an eyebrow at them. She looked at Starrk, and smiled slightly, understanding what they were doing.

"Apacci, Mila Rose, I'm surprised at you. I thought we went over this before. You should know better than bothering one of Nel's friends. Starrk, were these two bothering you?"

"Uh…no, no they weren't," Starrk said, blushing.

"Come on Starrk, grow a back bone," Grimmjow said. "Those two were about ready to bite your fuckin' head off."

"Aw, don't exaggerate, Grimm," Nel said.

"Now girls, I want you to apologize to Starrk," Tia said.

"BUT…" they both began.

"No 'buts', I want you to apologize to him."

"Alright," Mila Rose said and turned to Starrk. "I'm sorry…but keep in mind, if you hurt Lady Harribel in any way, I'll rip your balls off."

"Uh…okay," Starrk said.

"I'm sorry too," Apacci said and then whispered, "Ditto with Mila Rose on that last part. And I'll do one even better. Not only will I rip your fucking balls off, I'll shove 'em down your throat."

"Uh…sure," Starrk said.

"I'm glad that's settled," Harribel said and took the seat next to Starrk.

"Uh, Lady Harribel," Mila Rose said. "Is that such a good idea?"

"I think I can take care of myself, but thanks for your concern, Mila Rose," Harribel said, smiling.

As soon as everyone was seated, Rudobon and his "Exequias" walked in and lined around the auditorium. The students noticed that some of the "Exequias" were removing the chain stands from the entrances to the rows of seats. As they began to murmur with each other about this, Principal Luisenbarn strode to the podium.

"QUIET DOWN!" Luisenbarn shouted into the microphone. Everyone did as they were told. Nobody wanted to suffer his wrath today. "Good, now then, today marks a very special occasion. Today, Las Noches High has the honor of hosting Karakura High for the new Inter-School Relations Program.

"You are REPRESENTING Las Noches High. If ANY of you give Las Noches High a bad name, I WILL MAKE YOU PAY! I have given instructions to your professors on acceptable course work. I do NOT want anyone setting fire to the school in Science class," Luisenbarn said looking at Nakeem and Di Roy and then to Findor and Avirama.

Even though the incident occurred the day before, word had spread like wildfire until everyone in school knew. Everyone was surprised that Mr. Urahara didn't get in trouble for it. However, Baraggan Luisenbarn knew about Mr. Urahara's "oddities" and knew that reprimanding him in any way would be useless. For some reason, firing Mr. Urahara never even entered his mind.

"Rudobon and the 'Exequias', as well as the school staff, will be keeping an eye on things. If any of you causes trouble in MY school, they WILL give you detention and send you to ME for EXTRA PUNISHMENT!

"Now, I have the pleasure of introducing the Principal of Karakura High, Mr. Isshin Kurosaki."

Baraggan stepped away from the podium as a middle-aged man jogged onto the stage. He had spiky black hair and a thin beard. He had a pair of black pants and a white t-shirt. He waved at the students, some of whom politely clapped. Most of the others, including Grimmjow, couldn't imagine this guy as a principal. However, Grimmjow immediately recognized Principal Isshin's last name.

"Well, I'll be…" Grimmjow muttered.

"What is it?" Nel asked.

Grimmjow didn't answer.

"Thanks for that introduction, Mr. Luisenbarn," Isshin said. "I hope that we'll have a great time today. Now then, please give a round of applause for the students of KARAKURA HIGH!"

The doors to the auditorium flew open and a large group of students filed in. The boys were dressed in black pants with white shirts and a tan-colored sweater vest. The girls were dressed in light-tan skirts with white shirts and tan jackets. The students filed to the left-side of the auditorium and took seats with younger students in the front and the older students in the front.

Starrk watched as they filed in and looked at Grimmjow who was staring at an orange-haired boy. He saw Grimmjow grinning maniacally and had a good idea that this orange-haired boy was his rival. Harribel and her group were also watching the students as they filed past.

"Man, what a bunch of dweebs," Mila Rose muttered.

"No shit, look at 'em, all a bunch of stiff-assed pussies, like certain students here," Apacci replied, glaring at where Ulquiorra was sitting.

"They probably have to be that way. After all, they're representing their school," Sung-Sun said.

"Shut up, Sung-Sun. I don't give a damn. They're still a bunch of stiff-assed pussies," Apacci growled.

"Alright, now," Isshin continued from the stage, "students of Karakura High, I want you to be on your best behavior. That includes you Ichigo, and don't forget to keep an eye on your sisters," he said pointing at the orange-haired student.

"I know…I know," Ichigo said.

"Hey, come on up here, Ichigo. Karin and Yuzu, get up here too."

Ichigo got up from his seat and made his way to the stage. Two girls from the front row also got up and rushed to the stage. One of the girls had light-brown hair while the other had black hair. When they got to the stage, Isshin gave the two girls a hug and slapped Ichigo's back so hard that he took a couple of steps forward.

"These two lovely girls, Yuzu and Karin," he said, his hands on their shoulders. "And this poor-excuse of a man is my son, Ichigo."

"DAD!" Ichigo cried out. "Are you always trying to embarrass me?"

"Ichigo, Ichigo, I'm your father. It's my JOB to embarrass you."

Grimmjow snickered a little at this show. Starrk, however, was busy sleeping. Harribel kept glancing at him from the corner of her eyes and thought that he looked kind of cute when he was asleep. Nel noticed Harribel's sideways glances and smiled. Mila Rose and Apacci, however, were busy looking at the students from Karakura High, trying to see who would try to give Harribel a hard time. They hoped that they could beat them up without Rudobon or any of his "Exequias" seeing.

"Alright, I think that's about it from my end," Isshin said. "Mr. Luisenbarn, would you like to give any final instructions?"

"Of course," Luisenbarn said as he walked up to the podium again. "I would like to thank you, Mr. Isshin, as well as your students for coming to visit us for today. Each of the students from Karakura High will be given a packet on their way out. Inside, you will find a schedule of the classes you will be sitting-in on as well as a map of the campus.

"All that you have to do is go to one of the tables near the back, and locate the packet with your name on it. You better remember, because, even though you are guests, you are on MY property. As such, I will recommend for Mr. Isshin to respect any punishments that I may deal to you. I will NOT tolerate any form of disrespect made against MY school and MY staff. However, if you, especially you young ladies, feel that must protect yourselves from…particular students," he said, glaring at Nnoitora who was sitting in the back with Tesla, "then feel free to beat them up.

"I should mention, inside the packet, you will find a list of Trouble-Students complete with their photo as well as notes for your convenience. If any of them gives you any problems, feel free to talk to me or you can beat them up."

"Can he even do that?" Nel asked.

"Sure he can," Grimmjow said. "He's in charge. Hell, Bush and Cheney got away with it, and he's pretty much on the same level."

"Do you think you're on it?"

"Damn right, I am. Hell, I'm probably near the top. Unfortunately, the top spot's been taken by the Walking Spoon. Hmm, I wonder if they put a photo of him as the 'Spoon Cheerleader' next to his name."

Nel snickered slightly at that. She didn't tell him that the "Spoon Cheerleader" had made another appearance only the day before. However, photos of Nnoitora hanging by his ankle from the basketball board were already making the rounds; compliments of Kiyone Kotetsu, who bore witness to the event before she was picked-up by her parents. She figured that Grimmjow had a good idea of what she did and so, she felt she didn't need to say anything about it.

"Alright, that's it for now," Luisenbarn said. "You have a few extra minutes before we begin our first class. So, feel free to mingle. Just make sure THAT YOU GET TO CLASS ON TIME. DISMISSED," Baraggan roared.

As the students began to leave, Grimmjow looked over to where the students from Karakura High were gathering around the tables with their packets on. Seeing that Starrk was still asleep, Grimmjow jabbed him in his side. Starrk woke up with a start and looked about.

"C'mon, man, let's get outta here," Grimmjow said.

"It's over already?"

"Yeah, man, God you really need to do something about your stamina," Grimmjow said.

"I thought I saw you," someone said behind them.

The group turned and saw the orange-haired student, Ichigo, standing behind Grimmjow. Grimmjow stood up and faced Ichigo. Starrk and Nel looked at the two, somewhat concerned that Grimmjow might actually start to fight. Harribel looked at the two with slight interest and Sung-Sun looked bored at the development. Apacci and Mila Rose, however, wanted to see the two rivals spill blood.

"Ichigo…KUROSAKI!" Grimmjow yelled and hugged Ichigo, which Ichigo returned. "I swear, one of these days I'm gonna kick your ass."

"Not before I do," Ichigo said, laughing.

"Huh…I thought you two were rivals," Starrk said.

"Damn right we are," Grimmjow said.

"Even then, we still get along," Ichigo replied. "Hey Grimm, do you know this guy?"

"This is Starrk, one of my closest buddies."

"Pleased to meet ya," Ichigo said as he held out his hand.

"Uh…sure…nice to meet you too," Starrk said, shaking Ichigo's hand.

"Is he alright? He looks like he could fall asleep at any moment."

"Don't worry about him. He's always like that."

"Ah, so, who are these lovely ladies, Grimm?" Ichigo asked.

"Oh, well this girl here is Nelliel Tu Odelschwank," Grimmjow said, gesturing to Nel.

"But please, call me 'Nel'," she said, as she and Ichigo shook hands.

"Alright…Nel," Ichigo said.

"Hey, Starrk, introduce these other lovely ladies. You know them better than I do," Grimmjow said, smirking.

"Grimm..."

"C'mon, introduce them."

"NO WAY, I'M NOT LETTING SOME PERV INTRODUCE ME!" Apacci cried out.

"Apacci, for the last time, STARRK'S NOT A FUCKING PERV!" Grimmjow cried out.

"SHUT UP, GRIMM-KITTY!" Apacci cried out.

"Uh…yeah…she's Apacci. She's kinda…outgoing," Starrk said.

"Is she…she's having her period, right?" Ichigo whispered.

"I don't know," Starrk whispered.

"Hey Apacci, I think you need to see a doctor. I think you've been having your period a little too long," Grimmjow said.

"I'M NOT HAVING MY PERIOD, YOU SICK BASTARD!"

"So…anyways, who are the others?"

"I'm Sung-Sun," Sung-Sun, holding her hand out to Ichigo.

"You seem to be more…uh…calm than your friend," Ichigo said, shaking her hand.

"You're lucky that Mila Rose isn't getting involved," Sung-Sun said.

"What was that Sung-Sun?" Mila Rose growled.

"Would you like to meet our guest, Mila Rose?" Sung-Sun asked.

"Huh…oh yeah, I'm Mila Rose," she said holding out her hand, not really interested.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," Ichigo replied.

"Yeah…yeah…whatever…nice to meet ya…blah blah blah, and all that happy crappy," Mila Rose said.

"Uh…sure…nice to…meet you too," Ichigo said, arching his eyebrows as he looked at Sung-Sun, who only shrugged.

"Uh…this…this lovely lady is…is…Tia Harribel," Starrk said, flushing.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," Ichigo said, shaking Tia's hand.

"It's nice to meet you," Harribel said.

"Nice to meet y—HEY," Ichigo cried out as Apacci grabbed him by the shirt.

"Now you listen here," Apacci said. "If you even so much as look at Lady Harribel in the wrong way…I WILL TEAR YOUR FUCKIN' THROAT OUT!"

"OKAY! OKAY! I GET IT!" Ichigo screamed and Apacci released him, obviously satisfied.

"Is…she…always like that?" Ichigo asked.

"You have no idea," Sung-Sun said.

_**Lilynette**_

Outside of the auditorium, Lilynette was talking with her usual group of friends: Momo and Tobiume Hinamori, Kiyone Kotetsu, and Sentaro Kotsubaki. They were discussing the visitors from Karakura High, and the visiting principal.

"I still can't believe he's a principal," Sentaro said.

"I know, he's…actually kinda cool," Lilynette replied.

"Talk about polar opposites from Principal Luisenbarn," Kiyone said.

"I wonder what his daughters are like," Tobiume said. "They looked nice."

"His son looked like a push-over," Lilynette said, chuckling.

"That's for sure," someone said behind them.

They turned and saw the two Kurosaki sisters standing behind them. The black-haired sister leaned against the wall, and crossed her arms across her chest. The brown-haired sister stood there, smiling at the group.

"Now Karin," she said, "you shouldn't talk about Ichigo like that. Sure Dad's a little…rough on him…"

"That's an understatement," Karin said, rolling her eyes. "Yuzu, Dad's always trying to tackle him first thing in the morning."

"Whoa, what's that?" Lilynette said.

"Oh…sorry, forgot you were there for a moment," Karin said.

"That's not a nice thing to say," Momo said.

"Yeah Karin, you're being rude. We should introduce ourselves."

"Fine…whatever, I'm Karin Kurosaki and this is my sister, Yuzu."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Yuzu said, giving a slight bow.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Momo Hinamori and this is my sister, Tobiume."

"Hello," Tobiume said.

"I'm Kiyone Kotetsu and this ugly goat-face here is Sentaro Kotsubaki."

"HEY! GOATS AREN'T UGLY!" Sentaro shouted.

"I'm Lilynette Starrk…so anyways, Karin. What's this about your dad and brother?" she asked, a mischievous gleam entered her eyes.

"Dad thinks that the best way to greet Ichigo in the morning is to try to tackle him or kick him in the face or something like that. Sometimes, it's hard to tell which of the two idiots is supposed to be the adult."

"Why does he do that?" Kiyone asked.

"He thinks that it's the best way to get him to wake up," Karin said.

"I should try that on my brother sometime," Lilynette said, grinning.

"Oh, why do you say that?" Yuzu asked.

"You'll see…oh, I see him now," Lilynette said.

She pointed to a small cluster of students who just walked out. Grimmjow and Nel were busy talking with Ichigo. Apacci and Mila Rose were busy arguing with each other while Sung-Sun only rolled her eyes. Yuzu and Karin looked to the student who Lilynette was pointing to. Starrk was talking with Harribel, but he still looked as though he could fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

"Hmm, maybe I should get Dad to do his little exercise on that guy," Karin said.

"I see what you mean. He looks tired," Yuzu said.

"Well, anyways, we better get to class," Momo said. "What class are you going to be visiting first?"

"Oh…let's see," Yuzu said, consulting the course schedule that she received. "It looks like we have Algebra 1 with Miss Ise first."

"Hey, that's where we're heading," Lilynette cried out. "You can come with us. We'll be more than happy to show you where you need to go."

"Are you sure?" Yuzu asked.

"Sure, it's alright. Hey, we can have lunch together and you can tell us all about your school," Momo said.

"That sounds great," Karin said, smiling.

The seven students made their way to Miss Ise's class. Lilynette couldn't help but feel that she made two new friends. She hoped that after today, they would all keep in touch and find ways of hanging out together.

_**Ichigo**_

"KUROSAKI-KUN!" someone screamed from behind them.

Grimmjow, Starrk, and Ichigo turned and watched as a rather well-endowed girl came running towards them. Her burnt-orange hair flew out behind her and she was smiling. To Grimmjow and Starrk's surprise, they saw that she was dragging Ulquiorra behind her.

Apacci and Mila-Rose stopped their arguments, and stared at the girl running towards them. Sung-Sun looked confused at seeing her lab partner being dragged like a doll. Nel chuckled slightly at the sight and Harribel only stared at her.

"Orihime, how many times did I tell not to call me 'Kurosaki-kun'? It's annoying. Please call me, 'Ichigo'."

"Oh…sorry, Ichigo…I forgot, hee-hee-hee."

"Dude, she kinda reminds me of Nel," Grimmjow whispered to Starrk.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Stark said.

"I just got excited. Look who I found," she said, gesturing to Ulquiorra.

"Why did you have to drag me along, Little Girl?" Ulquiorra asked.

"No way, Ulqui, is that you?" Ichigo asked, surprised.

"Do not call me Ulqui," Ulquiorra said.

"Well, I see that you're as gloomy as ever," Ichigo said, smirking.

"Hey Strawberry, you know Batman here?"

"Are you kidding me, Orihime and I went to the same elementary school as Ulquiorra. We weren't 'close-friends' exactly, but we did hang out," Ichigo said.

"I…find that hard to believe," Grimmjow said.

"It's true," Orihime said, gleefully. "We got along great. Didn't we, Ulqui?"

"I told you not to call me 'Ulqui', Little Girl."

"Hey, her name's Orihime, not 'Little Girl'," Ichigo said.

"Come on, Ulqui enjoys his little jokes," Orihime said.

"HIME, I'VE BEEN LOOKING EVERYWHERE FOR YOU!" someone cried from behind them.

They barely saw the red-haired girl before she was hugging Orihime, pushing Ulquiorra aside. She wore a pair of red-framed glasses and a pink sweater instead of the white shirt. She immediately began rubbing her hands over Orihime's bosom. Another student ran up and kicked the red-haired away. This new student had short dark hair and was very lean.

"CHIZURU, I TOLD YOU TO STOP DOING THAT!" the student yelled.

"That hurt, Tatsuki," Chizuru said as she held her hand to her nose.

"Well, those two are as lively as ever," another girl with black hair and purple eyes said. "Sorry, I'm late, Ichigo, but I kinda got lost."

"It's alright, Rukia," Ichigo said and smiled.

"Hey Rukia," Orihime said.

"Hey Orihime…uh…why do you have him in a headlock?" Rukia asked.

Orihime looked confused and then looked at Ulquiorra who she was holding in a headlock. She gasped in surprise and released her hold on him.

"I'm…so sorry," Orihime said. "I must not have been paying any attention."

"Why am I not surprised?" Ichigo whispered to himself.

"Yeah…she's definitely a bit like Nel," Grimmjow said.

"So, where are we supposed to go first?" Rukia asked.

"Well, I'm supposed to go Art first," Ichigo said.

"YAY!" Orihime cried out. "ART! I get to draw Robohime."

"Uh…what are you talking about?" Harribel asked, somewhat confused.

"One time, our art teacher instructed us to draw how we saw ourselves in the future," Tatsuki said.

"Here it is!" Orihime shouted and held out a sheet of paper. "I present to you…ROBOHIME!"

They all looked at the illustration that showed Orihime with treads and lasers coming out of her eyes and shooting out one "breast" as though it was a missile. Behind the illustrated robot was a city on fire. Starrk thought that it looked like part of the poster for one of those B-movies from the 1950s.

"Let's just say…she didn't understand assignment," Tatsuki said.

_**Nnoitora**_

"Oh yeah…very nice," Nnoitora said and licked his lips. "Tesla, I think that we've got some real winners here."

"Yes Master Nnoitora," Tesla said as he held onto Nnoitora's belongings.

Nnoitora Gilga leaned against the lockers and watched as the girls walked past. Every once in a while…okay, make that every time a girl walked by, he would stick out his foot a bit and look into the mirror that he attached to his shoe. He would try to be discreet about it, but…

"Pervert," a girl said as she sidestepped his foot.

…it's pretty hard to be discreet about a mirror attached to your shoe.

"DIRTY BOOTS!" someone cried out and the next thing Nnoitora knew a dark-skinned girl rushed at him and then jumped in the air. "KILL THE SCUMBAG!"

"Oh shit," Nnoitora whispered.

He tried to pull away, but it was too late. She landed right on his foot and Nnoitora shrieked in pain. The girl then did a round-house kick and sent him flying. One of the Exequias saw this and rushed over.

"What is the meaning of this?" the Exequias asked. "What's your name, rank, and serial number?"

"I am Jackie Tristan," the girl said. "As for rank and serial number, I don't need 'em when I've got these," she said and showed off the pair of extremely filthy boots she was wearing. The Exequias backed away and grimaced. "As for why I did that," she said and pointed at Nnoitora as she held up the list of "Problem Students" that Baraggan conveniently included in the Visitors' Packets. "He's a scumbag. He taped a mirror to his foot so that way he could peek up girls' skirts."

"I see," the Exequias said and glared at Nnoitora. "NNOITORA GILGA, YOU ARE HEREBY SENTENCED TO SATURDAY DETENTION!" he cried out and walked towards Nnoitora. "IF YOU REFUSE TO ACCEPT YOUR PUNISHMENT, I SHALL DRAG YOU TO SEE PRINCIPAL LUISENBARN WHERE YOU WILL BE DEALT WITH 'RESPIRA'!"

The students in the hallway stared at Nnoitora.

"Finally," one of the girls sighed. "Maybe you should drag him down to the office. He did cause a disturbance in the halls."

"That's a good point," the Exequias said and he grabbed Nnoitora by his spoon-like hood. "You're coming with me."

"No, no, no, NOOOOOOOOOO!" Nnoitora screamed. "NOT THE RESPIRA! ANYTHING BUT THE RESPIRA!"

"MASTER NNOITORA!" Tesla shouted and ran in pursuit.

"Whoa, what just happened here?" Sentaro asked.

"It sounds like Principal Luisenbarn just got his first victim," Lilynette said and grinned. "Come on, the Math class is this way."

_**Grimmjow**_

Grimmjow listened in the Art classroom as Nnoitora was dragged down the hall. He smirked.

"Looks like ol' Spooney hit the jackpot," he said.

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked.

"You wouldn't understand unless you've met Nnoitora. He's the extremely tall and lanky guy with a hood that makes him look like a giant walking spoon."

"Oh…I saw him taping a mirror to his shoe earlier," Ichigo said. "What's that about?"

"He's a total horn dog," Grimmjow said. "You should have a picture of him in you Visitor's Packet."

"Let me check," Ichigo said and he dug out the pamphlet titled, "BEWARE OF THESE WHIPPER-SNAPPERS".

He opened it and then began to laugh. Grimmjow looked confused until he saw the photo that took up an entire page of the pamphlet under the headline: "BEWARE THIS SPOON". It was a picture of Nnoitora as the lovely "Spoon Cheerleader" tied to the flagpole.

_**Ichigo**_

"Alright," Coach Zaraki said. "Now, I know that Principal Luisenbarn wants me to go easy on you today because of our 'guests'. But I ain't one who likes to go easy. So, today, I want the girls to work on gymnastics with Yachiru and I'll be working on boxing with the boys. Now get to work."

Ichigo swallowed and he ducked behind Grimmjow in an effort not to let Kenpachi see him.

"What is it?" Grimmjow asked.

"I don't want that freak to see me," Ichigo said.

"Why not?" Starrk asked.

"It's because he's going to want to fight me again," Ichigo said.

"Alright, now you've got to tell us."

"Well, you see, over the summer I was in his boxing class and I…I kinda beat him."

"No frickin' way," Grimmjow said in awe. "You actually beat Coach Zaraki at boxing?"

"Yeah, and to top it off, I'm on my school's football team."

"Yeah, I see what you mean by not wanting to him to see ya," Grimmjow said and grinned. "HEY COACH ZARAKI! LOOK WHO'S HERE!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Ichigo shouted.

"What does it look like?" Grimmjow asked and grinned. "I'm thinning out the competition for the game."

"KENNY LOOK, IT'S STRAWBERRY!" Yachiru shouted.

"Well, well, so it is," Kenpachi said and grinned. "It's been a while Kurosaki. I was hoping you would be coming as well. Don't worry, I won't fight ya. I want ya nice and healthy and alive for the game next week. That way my boys can put ya down…or at least in the hospital. Anyways, say 'Hi' to your dad for me. Tell him I'll be coming for his weekly poker game on Friday."

"Uh…I will," Ichigo said and sighed.

"Good," Kenpachi said and grinned. "After the game, I'll be waiting for that rematch on our little fight. Got it?"

"Uh…yeah," Ichigo said and glared at Grimmjow who was laughing.

_**Lunch Time**_

The cafeteria was crowded more than usual and so Starrk and Grimmjow decided to have lunch outside. As they made their way to a small cluster of trees, they saw Harribel approaching. She was talking to a dark-skinned girl who was wearing a pair of extremely filthy boots and another girl with cranberry-colored hair tied in pig tails.

"Oh boy," Ichigo said. "It looks like Xcution have made contact with your friend."

"Xcution?" Grimmjow asked.

"Yeah, it's the theater club at our school," Orihime said. "There's kind of a rivalry between the two faculty advisors, Kugo Ginjo and Shukuro Tsukishima."

"Their rivalry comes out whenever we have Art with Mr. Ginjo or Literature with Mr. Tsukishima," Rukia said. "Some of the others in the theater club dropped out because they keep on arguing with each other. The only exceptions are Mr. Giriko, who runs the local performance arts center, Jackie Tristan, Riruka and her boyfriend Yukio. Although, I have heard that they're recruiting from other schools."

As the group got closer, they could hear what they were discussing.

"That's the problem though," the girl with the cranberry hair said. "They're arguing over what to do. Tsukishima wants to do an adaptation of the Red Wedding from _A Storm of Swords_ while Ginjo wants to do the Eye of the World scene in _The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World_. Now they're arguing over whether _A Song of Ice and Fire_ or _The Wheel of Time_ is the better series."

"I always thought that _Lord of the Rings_ would be considered the best," Apacci said.

"I know, but neither of them will touch it since that's one that they both agree on," the other girl said. "Of course, next thing you know they'll be agreeing with each other on those two series."

"Why don't they just do a straight-up play?" Harribel asked.

"They don't think it creative enough," a blonde-haired boy who was playing a game on his hand-held game console said.

"I'm glad we don't have that problem here," Harribel said. "Although, Yumichika is usually in charge and he always likes to do one of those comedies from the Age of Restoration."

"I didn't know you were in the school's theater program," Starrk called out.

Harribel looked at Starrk and smiled.

"You should try it some time," Harribel said.

"HOLY SHIT…IS HE YOUR BOYFRIEND?" Riruka called out. "HE'S SUCH A HOTTIE!"

Starrk and Harribel both blushed. Grimmjow snickered behind his hand before Nel smacked him on the back of the head.

"Why'd you do that for?" Grimmjow asked.

"Just 'cause," Nel said and winked at him.

"Well now, look at this Chad," a boy with dark hair said as he adjusted his glasses. "It looks as though Strawberry has already begun the fun without us."

"Hey Uryu," Ichigo said. "Hey Chad, how's it going?"

"Fine," the broad, muscular boy said and fell silent.

"Chad doesn't say much," Ichigo whispered.

"So, aren't you going to introduce us?" Uryu asked.

"Maybe if you stopped being such a pompous fool," Ichigo muttered.

"Hello Uryu," Orihime said. "Come sit with us."

"If you insist," Uryu said, but didn't sit down. Chad, on the other hand, didn't mind sitting on the ground and sat next to Grimmjow.

"Anyways, this is Yasutora Sado, but we just call him 'Chad,'" Ichigo said. "And Mr. Stuck-Up over there is Uryu Ishida."

"I'm Grimmjow," Grimmjow said and he held out his hand to Chad who shook it. "Mr. Sleeping-Beauty over there is my best friend, Coyote Starrk."

"Nice to meet you," Starrk said with a yawn.

"I'm Nelliel Tu Odelschwank, but you can just call me Nel. These three nice girls are Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun."

"Well, I don't know about calling Apacci and Mila Rose, 'nice,'" Sung-Sun said. "If you're not careful they'll rip your throats out."

"SHUT UP SUNG-SUN!" Apacci and Mila Rose cried out.

"I swear to God," Apacci snarled. "One of these days I'm gonna rip your fucking throat out, Sung-Sun."

"Yeah, but first I'll rip out your tongue and shove it down your throat before ripping your throat out," Mila Rose said.

"See what I mean?" Sung-Sun asked.

"Are they always that violent?" Chad asked.

"You have no idea," Harribel said. "I'm Tia Harribel by the way."

"It's nice to meet you," Chad said and gulped when he saw the Three Amazons of the Apocalypse glaring at him.

"Easy girls," Harribel said. "No need to bite his head off."

"Yes ma'am," Apacci said, but then put then pointed to her blue and amber eyes and then pointed to Chad.

"Scary," Chad muttered and bit into his chicken-salad sandwich.

"Anyways, I'm Jackie Tristan," Jackie said. "The girl drooling over there is Riruka," she said and gestured to the cranberry-haired girl who was staring at Grimmjow now.

"Don't mind her. She's just obsessed with anything she thinks is cute," the blonde-haired boy said without looking up from his PSP handheld. "I'm Yukio by the way."

"Pleased to meet you," Starrk said.

"Yeah, whatever," Yukio said. "Damn it. Stupid Book of the End gets me every time."

_**Lilynette**_

"Okay, so let me get this straight," Lilynette said. "Your dad actually set up a trampoline under your brother's window and he actually timed it to where he would jump into your brother's room as he was waking up."

"Yeah," Karin said. "Let's just say it didn't work out."

"Gee, I wonder why," Kiyone said.

"No kidding. There are several things that could go wrong with that plan," Sentaro said.

"Yeah, but Dad hardly ever thinks about that," Yuzu said.

"No kidding," Karin said. "Instead of leaping into Ichigo's room, he crashed right into the window. To make things worse, the neighbors called the police. It took 3 hours to get everything straightened out."

"And he's actually the principal at your school?" Lilynette asked.

"I know. But it's a crazy world," Karin said.

_**Szayel Aporro**_

"What are you working on now, sir?"

"I'm trying to fix my Intelligence-Enhancement Formula, Lumina," Szayel Aporro said. "I figured out what went wrong the last time."

"That's good to hear, sir."

"Thank you Verona. Now, who should I test it on because I'm NOT going to embarrass myself a third time."

"I would think not," Lumina muttered.

"What was that?" Szayel Aporro asked.

"I said, perhaps you should try it on Di Roy or Nakeem," Lumina said.

"Hmm, considering that those two are the least intelligent people in the school…. Then again, there's Yammy. Maybe I should try it on him. That way I can actually observe the results."

"When do you want to do it?" Verona asked.

"Hmm, unfortunately Lunch is about to end. Perhaps I should hold off on it and make sure that I actually fixed it. The last thing we need is for it to make Yammy hungrier than he normally is. Otherwise, he might eat everyone in school."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Of course it would. He might mistake my hair for cotton candy and bite my head off. Can you imagine how much my IQ would go down if I didn't have my head?"

"I would say by quite a bit," Lumina said.

"Exactly…no…wait a minute. I just got an idea."

_**Nnoitora**_

He knew he got off lucky. However, he was still shaking from the experience of being dragged into Principal Luisenbarn's office.

"Damn that bitch," Nnoitora muttered. "It's a good thing I got her name."

"Jackie Tristan," Tesla said.

"Yes," Nnoitora said. "I'm just glad I got a relatively light Respira. I'm gonna make sure she pays."

"Are you sure it's wise to be talking about that now?" Tesla asked.

"Good point," he said and looked at the two Exequias who were handcuffed to him as they led him to his next class.

_Great,_ he thought. _I have to deal with having two Exequias handcuffed to me for the rest of today._

_**Urahara**_

"Alright class," Urahara said. "First, I want to welcome our visitors today. Hello, Visitors," he said and waved his fan at them. There were murmurs from the visitors except for a loud "Hi" from Orihime and Rukia. "Alright, now Principal Luisenbarn forbade me from doing any experiments that may result in an explosion."

"Which pretty much means all of them," Ulquiorra said and looked over at Di Roy and Nakeem who looked as though they found out Christmas was going to be cancelled for a full decade.

"Thank God," Starrk sighed.

"However, that's no fun," Urahara said and grinned.

"Crap," Starrk moaned.

"So, I'll tell you what. To make sure that I'm in the limits of Principal Luisenbarn's instructions AND still have some fun, let's dissect frogs."

"That sounds acceptable," Ulquiorra said, but one look at Di Roy and Nakeem and Edorad and Findor told him that he spoke a little too soon.

"I'm glad you agree," Urahara said. "Alright, I have your frogs here. I want you and your partners to buddy up with some of our visitors and let's have some fun."

_**Grimmjow**_

"Alright, since we have visitors today, I thought that it would be best if we all did a group assignment," Ukitake said. "I would like to get into groups and go over Chapters 1-3 in your texts. I have extra text books for our visitors to borrow. When you have gone over the chapters, I would like for each group to make a presentation out of at least one section in their chapter. Now, I'll call out each pair of Study Buddies and give you a number. I would like for our visitors to divide into three equal numbers and choose a group."

Grimmjow and Nel were sitting next to each other. As Ukitake went on, Nel nudged Grimmjow and pointed at Szayel Aporro. Grimmjow saw that Szayel Aporro was carrying a bottle of Dr. Pepper and smiling about something.

"What do you think he's up to?" Nel asked.

"I don't want to know," Grimmjow said. "But it looks as though we better not accept anything from him."

They watched as Szayel Aporro approached Yammy.

"Are you thirsty, Yammy?"

"Not really," Yammy grunted. "I'm hungry though."

"Well, drink this. It might help satisfy your hunger."

"I hate Dr. Pepper," Yammy said. "I want…BACON!"

"Just take the damn soda," Szayel Aporro growled.

"I'll take it," Apacci said and yanked the bottle of Dr. Pepper out of his hand before he could say anything.

"Uh…wait…I wouldn't…" Szayel Aporro muttered, but he was too late. Apacci was already draining the Dr. Pepper. "God, I hope nothing goes wrong," he moaned.

"Thanks," she said and tossed the empty bottle across the room where it landed in the basket with ease.

"I think something bad is going to happen," Grimmjow said.

"I would have to agree," Nel said.

_**Starrk**_

"I'M GONNA CUT THIS THING UP FASTER THAN YOU!" Avirama yelled at Di Roy and Nakeem.

"EXACTA!" Findor cried out and began hacking away at the dead frog with the scalpel.

"Hey, Di Roy, you look like Dr. House," Nakeem said and broke out in guttural laughter.

"HEE-HEE-HEE, dat's right, I AM DR. HOUSE!" Di Roy said and began slicing the frog.

"Maybe we should get protective face plates," Starrk said and slid the scalpel into the frog's upturned belly.

"I'd have to agree with you," Harribel said and ducked just as something went flying by where her head was. Starrk was not surprised to see that it was the frog's liver.

"HEE-HEE-HEE, FOOD FIGHT!" Di Roy shouted.

"WOULD YOU IDIOTS STOP?" Ggio shouted.

"NO!" Avirama shouted back. "THEY'VE DECLARED WAR AND WE HAVE TO BEAT THEM! I'M GONNA BEAT YA! I'M GONNA BEAT YA!"

"NOT IF WE BEAT YA FIRST," Nakeem shouted back and reached into the frog for more ammunition.

"This…is…so…GROSS!" Mila Rose shouted.

"Are you not going to stop these idiots?" Ulquiorra asked Urahara.

"They'll run out of ammunition soon enough," Urahara said and grinned.

Starrk moaned in disgust as he saw Avirama and Di Roy throw the frogs at one another. There was a splatting sound as the two cadavers made contact.

"So…I take it those four are the class idiots," Ichigo said.

"More like the school idiots," Mila Rose said as she walked past. "I need another pair of goggles. Those idiots hit my other pair with a stomach."

"Why doesn't he stop them?" Rukia asked and gestured at Urahara who was leaning back in his chair and fanning himself.

"I think it amuses him to see what kind of trouble they can get into," Starrk said. "To be honest, I'm surprised that Principal Luisenbarn hasn't fired him yet."

"That's because Urahara's connected," Harribel said. "He's friends with Yoruichi Shihoin."

"Yoruichi Shihoin? Isn't she the Chief of Police?" Ichigo asked.

"Not to mention her family's one of the wealthiest in the area," Harribel said.

"How do you know Yoruichi?" Starrk asked.

"She's my aunt on my mother's side," Harribel said. "What, you know her?"

"She helped look after my sister for a while," Starrk said. "This was before Uncle Dordoni returned from a business trip to Spain. I had no idea she was your aunt."

"Yeah…" Harribel said and trailed off. Now that she knew that Aunt Yoruichi knew Starrk, she would have to ask her some questions about him.

"WATCH OUT!" someone shouted.

They turned and saw a frog flying towards them. Starrk took hold of Harribel's shoulders and pushed her down just as the frog went flying past. Urahara didn't even look up. Instead, he just moved his torso slightly and the frog missed him by mere inches before coming to a stop with a wet slap on the whiteboard behind him.

"That was close," Starrk said.

"Th-thank you," Harribel whispered.

_**Grimmjow**_

Something bad did happen.

At first, Apacci was normal. However, as the class went on, Grimmjow noticed that she was becoming more red-faced and her eyes began to burn brighter than normal. Nel also noticed it and she began to become frightened for poor Tesla who was becoming the object of her fierce gaze. Grimmjow felt a little uneasy about that.

"Nel, maybe we should warn Tesla," Grimmjow said.

"I suppose we should, but…"

"Alright, class," Ukitake said. "I want you all to come up here and present what you've learned. Let's start with those who got Chapter 1, shall we?"

"Master Nnoitora, here's your part of the assignment. You're doing warfare before the Bronze Age."

"Excellent," Nnoitora said and grinned. "Does it also mention 'Spoils of War'?"

"I believe so, sir," Tesla said.

"Alright, I'll be presenting," Nnoitora said and grinned. "Hmm, let's see here, who would I like to make my 'Prisoner of War'?"

"I'll show you, 'Prisoner of War,'" Tatsuki said.

"Now Tatsuki, let's not…," a boy with brown hair said.

"Oh shut up, Keigo. I swear if he tries anything, I'll shove my foot so far up his ass that he'll be chewing on leather."

"I'd like to see ya try," Nnoitora sneered.

"Don't test me," Tatsuki said.

"Now, now, let's all try to get along," Ukitake said and laughed. "Alright, since your group seems to be ready. You'll go first. What's your topic?"

"Warfare before the Bronze Age," Nnoitora said and grinned. "When people beat the shit out of each other with rocks and clubs and took a lot of 'Spoils of War'."

"MINE!" Apacci cried out and struck Tesla in the head with the rolled up piece of paper she held.

"What the…?" Tesla cried out in surprise.

"YOU'RE MINE!" Apacci cried out and continued striking Tesla.

Then, without warning, Apacci launched herself at Tesla and wrestled him to the ground. Nnoitora looked in surprise and a little bit jealous.

"MASTER NNOITORA, HELP ME!"

"Are you kidding me? You lucky bastard," Nnoitora growled.

"You're coming with me," Apacci growled and then bared her teeth at everyone else. "He's mine."

"Yeah…pretty much, warfare before the Bronze Age was like that," Luppi said.

"Well…that was an unconventional demonstration, but it counts. Your group gets an A," Ukitake said and smiled.

"Hmm, I guess it's a good thing I didn't get to try that out on Yammy," Szayel Aporro muttered.

"What was in that, by the way?" Grimmjow asked.

"It was another attempt at my Intelligence-Enhancement Formula, but I guess it enhanced aggression."

"Or a person's sex drive," Nel suggested.

From out of the class, they could hear shrieks and then Tesla ran into the room. He was quickly followed by Apacci who was dragging two members of the Exequias behind her. Then, she stopped and blinked. She looked at the two Exequias who were grabbing onto her and screamed.

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" she roared and kicked the two Exequias off her. "What…what happened?"

"M-M-Master Nnoitora, she…she tried to…oh God it was horrible," Tesla moaned and broke down crying.

"Jesus, grow a pair," Nnoitora snarled.

"Seriously, what happened?" Apacci asked. "One moment I'm feeling fine and then the next thing I know, I'm dragging Tesla by the hair."

"Are you feeling alright, Miss Apacci?" Ukitake asked as he approached them. "You look kind of pale."

"I think I need to lie down for a bit," Apacci said.

"Alright, would you two please escort Miss Apacci to the Nurse's office?" he asked the two Exequias. "And I would appreciate it if you didn't tell Principal Luisenbarn. She's probably going through her time of month."

"WHY DOES EVERYONE THINK THAT?" Apacci shouted.

"We understand, Mr. Ukitake," one of the Exequias said.

When Apacci was out of the room, Szayel Aporro sighed in relief.

"Thank God she didn't put two-and-two together," he said.

"She probably will," Grimmjow said. "When she does…it's your funeral."

"Don't remind me."

_**Lilynette**_

Another day ended. Lilynette was glad that she got to meet Yuzu and Karin.

"So, are you doing anything over the weekend?" Karin asked.

"Nothing specific," Lilynette said.

"Well, I'm getting together with some of my friends and we're going to play some soccer. Do you want to come?"

"Sure," Lilynette said and grinned.

"Ooh, I love soccer," Kiyone said.

"You're all welcome to join us," Karin said.

"Hey, Lilynette," Starrk called out. "Are you about ready?"

"Yeah," Lilynette called back. "Anyways, I'll call ya," she said to Karin.

"Bye," Yuzu said as she and Karin walked to the bus that would take them back to their school.

Lilynette reached Starrk who was talking with Ichigo and his buddies.

"This weekend?" Starrk asked.

"Sure," Rukia said. "You're all more than welcome to come out with us."

"What's going on?" Lilynette asked.

"Oh…this is my little sis, Lilynette," Starrk said. "Rukia told us that they're going to do some karaoke this weekend."

"That's right," Rukia said.

"Count me in," Grimmjow said. "That way I can kick your ass at that too, Kurosaki."

"Oh…is that a challenge?"

"Yeah, it's a challenge," Grimmjow said and grinned. "What do you say?"

"You're on," Ichigo said.

"Karaoke sounds like fun," Nel said. "Would you like to come too, Harribel?"

"I don't see why not," Harribel said and smiled at Starrk. "Would you like to come too?"

"Well…I suppose," Starrk said as he rubbed his head.

"Great," Orihime said and looked at Ulquiorra. "Ulqui, would you like to come too?"

"I would appreciate it if you did not call me 'Ulqui" and to answer your question. I would not like to come."

"Aw, but you've got to," Orihime said. "It'll be fun."

"As I have said before, 'I would not like to come.' That is my final answer on the subject," he said and walked to his Murciélago.

"Too bad," Grimmjow said. "I bet he would do an excellent impression of Marilyn Manson."

"You might be right," Harribel said.

"Lady Harribel, are you ready to go?" Sung-Sun asked.

"In a moment…uh…where's Apacci?"

"I don't know," Mila Rose said.

"It might have to do with what happened in History class," Nel said.

"What are you talking about?" Starrk asked.

"She…kinda went crazy," Grimmjow said.

"That's nothing new," Mila Rose said. "She's crazy all of the time."

"Yeah…well, it's because she drank something that Szayel Aporro offered to Yammy," Grimmjow said.

"That idiot," Sung-Sun said. "I told her many times before not to touch anything that's in Szayel Aporro's hand."

"You would think that everyone would know that by now," Starrk said and sighed.

"Well now, loiterers in front of the school," Rudobon said as he left the building.

"Hey, we're not loitering," Grimmjow said. "We're not in anyone's way."

"I know, but you better not let Principal Luisenbarn catch you," he said and glared at them. "He is not too pleased with how things turned out. We have had to send fifteen students to his office today."

"Well, that's not too bad," Grimmjow said.

"Every student sent to his office in front of visitors is an insult to this institution. However, I suppose it could have been worse. Anyways, the Nurse told me to find the friends of Emilou Apacci and inform them that, aside from that terrible temper of hers, she is doing well. Now, if you will excuse me I must find Nnoitora Gilga. He believes that his Respira sentence is at an end, but it is not. Principal Luisenbarn has thought of a fitting punishment for his behavior."

With that, Rudobon walked off.

"Man, is he always that uptight?" Ichigo asked.

"He is," Grimmjow said and sneered.

"Well, at any rate," Ichigo said. "We better get going before the bus leaves. I hope to see you over the weekend."

"You can count on that karaoke," Grimmjow said and waved. "I still have to beat your ass you know."

"I know," Ichigo said and laughed.

At that moment, Apacci came out.

"Well look who's here," Mila Rose said and grinned. "I heard ya tried to rape Tesla today."

"Shut up, bitch," Apacci said. "I've got a terrible head ache and I've never been so embarrassed in my life."

"What did happen to you?" Nel asked. "I've never seen you act that way before."

Before Apacci could answer they heard shouting. They turned and saw Nnoitora being dragged by Rudobon by his spoon hood.

"Did you really think Principal Luisenbarn would let you off that easily?" Rudobon asked.

"LET ME GO!" Nnoitora shrieked. "I SERVED MY PUNISHMENT! I WAS HANDCUFFED TO TWO EXEQUIAS FOR MOST OF THE DAY!"

"Did you think that Principal Luisenbarn would let you off so easily? No, that was the beginning of his Respira on you. Principal Luisenbarn's Respira has only just begun," Rudobon said. "And you better not make any trouble for the visitors from Seireitei High on Friday. Otherwise…"

"NOOOOOOOO!" Nnoitora shrieked.

"That doesn't sound good," Sung-Sun said.

"He'll live," Harribel said. "Slime balls like him always survive. Anyways, what happened to you Apacci?"

"Well I don't really know. One moment I'm fine and then the next thing I know I'm dragging Tesla by the hair out of Mr. Ukitake's classroom."

"Do you think you had a reaction to something?" Harribel asked. "Do you think you might have been drugged?"

"I don't see how that's…" then she remembered. "That…freak," she said.

"What is it?" Mila Rose asked.

"I saw Szayel Aporro offering a bottle of soda to Yammy, but Yammy said he wasn't thirsty. So I…"

"You idiot," Mila Rose said, trying not to laugh. "I always knew that you didn't have much sense, but to hear you confess that YAMMY had more sense than you…oh man I'm so going to write that down in my diary tonight. I'm also gonna make sure you NEVER forget it either."

"Damn it, Mila Rose. If you continually bring it up…I'm gonna make sure that you die a slow and painful death."

"I still don't get it," Harribel said.

"Well, let's just say that Apacci drank something that Szayel Aporro had contact with," Grimmjow said.

"Oh," Harribel said and looked at Apacci.

"That freak," Apacci growled. "The next time I see Psycho Pink…I'M GONNA KILL HIM!"

**End of Chapter 3**

**A.N.: Well at least Szayel Aporro learned not to experiment on himself. Although, his attempt at perfecting his Intelligence-Enhancment Formula still failed and now he's got Apacci to worry about. Anyways, next chapter will be Seireitei High's visit. Happy Independence Day everyone!**

**Thank you for reading and please review.**


	4. Chapter 4: Visitors from Seireitei High

**Life at Las Noches High**

**Chapter 4: Visitors from Seireitei High**

Grimmjow was determined _not_ to be the first student to arrive at school ever again.

He looked at the clock hanging on the wall and hoped that 8:20 AM would be late enough. He got into his Jeep Pantera and turned on the CD player. He drove as The Exies played the song "My Ordinary World". He looked at the parking lot and to his delight there was a car in the parking lot.

"YES! YES! YES!" he shouted and burst out laughing as he pulled into the lot. "IT'S ABOUT TIME!" he shouted. "I'M NOT A…shit," he muttered when he got a look at the bumper-sticker on the car.

It showed a pumpkin decorated in hundreds of eyes. In Purple letters it said: BRUJERÍA. There was only one person whom he knew who would be caught with a Brujería bumper sticker, and they were not a student. He put the parking brake on his car and began to sob. At that moment, the owner of the car showed up. It was the school janitor Zommari Rureaux.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in his deep voice.

"Going to school," Grimmjow said and began to hit his head on the wheel.

"I see. I take it that you like to come to school early."

"Not really," Grimmjow said. "Mr. Rureaux, I don't understand it. I left my house later than usual and I'm still the first one here. Is the whole universe conspiring against me?"

"I don't know. It's not my problem. My problem is that somebody tagged the school."

"Is that why you're here?"

"Yeah," Zommari said as he reached into his car to get the bucket of rags he kept in there. "Principal Luisenbarn called me and wanted to make sure that he school was in excellent shape since we're having visitors today. When I got here…" he shook his head. "Hey, since you're here, would you like to help out?"

"Sure," Grimmjow said as he got out of his car. "I don't have anything else to do right now. You know, I left my house at 8:20 and I'm surprised that no one else, including Ulquiorra and Rudobon got here yet."

"Uh…I hate to break it to ya kid, but it's 7:45 right now."

Grimmjow stopped and looked at him. His jaw dropped and then he realized what must have happened. The forces in the universe were conspiring against him. The clock that he used to keep track of time had died and he failed to look at any other clock including his alarm clock.

"So…I'm really early," Grimmjow said.

"Yeah, but…at least you get an extra five bucks in your pocket for helping me out."

Grimmjow looked at Zommari and smiled.

"I take it this is strictly under the table stuff," Grimmjow said.

"That's right. Anyways, I could use all of the help I can get if I'm gonna get it cleaned up before the guests arrive."

When they rounded the building, Grimmjow looked and stared. His eyes went wide and he began to laugh. Spray-painted on the side of the school was a giant old man with a long beard and bushy eyebrows giving the V-sign with the words "YAMAMOTO WAS HERE" below. He shook his head and smiled.

"YAMAMOTO!" someone shouted. They turned and saw Baraggan laughing as he looked at the large bit of graffiti. "He's still up to his old pranks. That old bastard hasn't changed a bit."

_**Starrk**_

Starrk pulled into one of the parking spots just as the student horde began to descend upon the school. He watched as Lilynette got out of the car and rushed towards her usual group of friends who were just being dropped-off by their parents.

"BE CAREFUL, LILYNETTE," he shouted.

She raised a hand to show that she understood and Starrk chuckled. He got out of his car and heard someone honking behind him. He turned and his face lit up when he saw the black Nissan pulling into the spot next to him. Starrk walked towards it just as the driver's side door opened and a student about Grimmjow's height with brown hair and blue eyes stepped out and laughed.

"Starrk, how's it going?"

"Skullak, where have you been?" Starrk asked and hit the other boy on the back.

"Oh, I've been around," Skullak said as he went to the passenger's side. "I hope Principal Luisenbarn won't be too upset."

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Starrk said.

"Hey, is that Starrk I hear out there?" Skullak's passenger asked.

"Yep," Skullak said as he held out his hand and helped the purple-haired girl out of the car.

"Cirucci," Starrk said and chuckled. "So, I guess you're still dating this loser, eh?"

"Of course I am," Cirucci said and laughed as she hit Starrk in the shoulder. "What about you? Are you seeing anyone or do you just have someone in mind?"

"Cirucci, you know perfectly well that Starrk would rather go on a date with his mattress complete with pillow and blanket," Skullak said.

The three laughed at that just as Grimmjow rushed towards them.

"HEY, SKULLAK, CIRUCCI!" he cried out.

"GRIMM-KITTY!" Cirucci yelled and began to wave.

"DAMN IT, STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Grimmjow yelled, but he was smiling. He didn't mind it if one of his close circle of friends called him "Grimm-Kitty" just as long as it wasn't Ulquiorra. "Skullak, where've you been?"

"I was attending a conference," Skullak said. "It was for the Society of Mathematical and Scientific Advancement."

"NERD!" Grimmjow said and laughed.

"AND PROUD OF IT!" Skullak shouted back and laughed as well. "So, what have I missed?"

"Well, you missed out on Szayel Aporro making a complete fool of himself by rushing on stage and hugging Baraggan," Grimmjow said.

"It was bound to happen eventually," Skullak said. "What else has been going on?"

"Let's see here, Nnoitora has been getting beat up a lot," Starrk said.

"Again, not really surprised," Skullak said.

"Come on, give us the juicy stuff," Cirucci said. "Give us something that we can really sink our teeth into."

"Oh, we've had visitors from Karakura High and today we'll be getting visitors from Seireitei High."

"Hmm, that should be interesting. Doesn't Szayel Aporro's rival go to Seireitei High?" Skullak asked.

"He does," Starrk said.

"Oh…and Starrkey Boy here has a crush on someone," Grimmjow said.

"WHAT?" Skullak and Cirucci cried out and looked at Starrk. They proceeded to bombard him with questions like: "What's she like?" and "What does she like to do?" and "What's her name?" and the ever popular "Is she hot?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Starrk said. "First off, you'll also have to know that Grimmjow has a crush on someone as well."

"HEY, WHY'D YOU DO THAT?"

"Well, you dragged me into this in the first place. It's only fair," Starrk said and shrugged.

"Well, well, well, this is very interesting," Skullak said grinning. "It looks like our two buddies here have been struck by cupid's arrow. So, when can I meet these lovely ladies?"

"Well, you already know one of them," Starrk said and smiled.

"Oh…" Skullak said as he raised an eyebrow.

"STARRK, GRIMMY! OVER HERE!"

They turned and saw Nel waving towards them as she ran towards them. Skullak looked at Starrk and Grimmjow out of the corner of his eyes and saw that Grimmjow was blushing. He nudged Cirucci and jerked his head towards Grimmjow. Cirucci looked and smiled as well.

"Hey Nel," Skullak said.

"SKULLAK! CIRUCCI! OH MY GOD! It's been so long," Nel said and hugged the two.

"It's only been three weeks," Cirucci said.

"I know, but three weeks is a long time."

"Hey, you guys," Grimmjow said. "You're not going to believe what happened."

"If it's about someone TPing the school, then I won't be surprised," Skullak said.

"No, someone tagged the school," Grimmjow said.

"Nothing new," Cirucci said.

"Yeah, the school gets tagged at least twice a week," Starrk said.

"I know that, but listen. This time is different," Grimmjow said. "Apparently, the principal of Seireitei High was behind it."

"I already knew that," Skullak said.

"You…you did?"

"Of course, I helped him with the stencil," Skullak said. "Yamamoto asked me to help him out with saying 'hello' to Baraggan before he got here. So…I helped him with making the stenciling. Then he along with some of the others from Seireitei High and even a couple of guys from Karakura High came over and worked on it throughout the night."

"You…you were in on it?" Grimmjow asked rather surprised. "Who else was involved?"

"Let's see here," Skullak said as he thought about it. "Rukia and Ichigo were involved. Urahara helped out as well along with Yoruichi since she's the police chief so that way there wouldn't be any problems. Although, we should have told Zommari, but he wasn't here and none of us knew his phone number. I hope he wasn't too upset."

"Nah, he was kinda cool about it," Grimmjow said.

"So…did Baraggan see it?"

"He did," Grimmjow said. "He just burst out laughing and applauded."

"No surprise there," Cirucci said. "He and Yamamoto served together in the military. They've been very good buddies since then and they're always playing pranks on each other."

"WHAT?" Grimmjow and Starrk yelled in surprise.

"That's impossible," Grimmjow said. "I won't believe it until I see it."

"Yeah, Principal Luisenbarn doesn't exactly have a sense of humor."

_**Harribel**_

Tia Harribel drove her Chevrolet Tiburón into one of the parking spots and put on the brakes. She sighed as she reached for her backpack and her hand stopped. She looked at the little stuffed chibi wolf that was on the floor of the passenger seat. It was the gift that her father gave her for her eighth birthday, the last time she saw him. She picked it up and looked at it.

"How did you get in here?" she asked. "You're supposed to be home."

She shrugged and put it in her bag. She grabbed her bag and opened the door. She got out in time to see four of the Exequias marching towards the front door with Rudobon in the lead. She shivered slightly whenever she saw them. The very uniformity they had made her feel uneasy.

"He must be from a long line of drill instructors," she muttered and shook her head.

"Well, look at what we have here."

Harribel rolled her eyes and turned to face Nnoitora who was leering at her. Tesla gave her a polite wave and shrunk back to his master's side. She felt kind of sorry for Tesla and wondered how someone like him could possibly get involved with someone like Nnoitora.

"What do you want Nnoitora?"

"Oh, just wanted to say 'Good morning' and to ask you out on a date."

"First off, I'll respond with a 'Good morning' of my own since it's the polite thing to do. Second, my answer is no."

"Aw, why do you have to be so difficult, Baby?"

"First off, don't call me 'Baby'. I hate it when chauvinistic pigs like you call me that as if it's my name. My name is Tia Harribel. Second, if you don't get out of my way, I'm going to kick you so hard that your eyeballs and balls will swap places. Got it?"

"Tch…you don't have to be such a bitch."

"And you don't have to be such an arrogant asshole if you think you can try asking me out again. Now, I have some friends to meet up with." She was about to walk away when she thought of something. She turned around and looked at Tesla who began to look uncomfortable. "Tesla, you don't have to hang around this creep if you don't want to. You can hang out with us if you'd like."

Tesla looked at her and then at Nnoitora who was glaring at him.

"I…uh…I…"

"Tesla likes hanging out with me. Don't you Tesla?"

"Yes sir," Tesla said as he straightened at attention. "May I take your bag for you, Master?"

"You may," Nnoitora said and shoved his bag into Tesla's chest. "You see. He knows whose hand feeds him. Come along Tesla, we're going."

"Yes sir," Tesla said and hurried after Nnoitora.

She looked after them and shook her head. She could not understand why Tesla was putting up with Nnoitora. It didn't make any sense to her. Nnoitora was a pervert and a bully while Tesla was none of those things. From what she saw of him, Tesla was an alright guy and was actually very sensitive and sweet when Nnoitora wasn't around.

She sighed as she made her way to the school entrance where she saw Mila Rose and Apacci arguing with each other, as usual, while Sung-Sun only shook her head. She made her way towards them when she saw Starrk walking up with Grimmjow, Nel, and two other students she didn't know.

"Good morning, Starrk," she called out and waved a hand in the air.

Starrk looked up and waved back, smiling. Grimmjow and Nel waved as well. The other two students looked at her and then at Starrk and then started whispering to each other. She rushed her way towards them, ignoring the glares that Apacci and Mila Rose gave Starrk. She knew that they would warm-up to him…eventually.

"Morning, Bel," Starrk said and rubbed his hair. "I…uh…did you…uh…I mean…"

"I think what Starrkey Boy here is trying to say is he hopes that you got a good night's sleep," Skullak said. "I'm Skullak Tuma and this lovely girl here is my girlfriend, Cirucci Sanderwicci."

"I'm Tia Harribel."

"It's nice to meet you," Cirucci said. "We were wondering how you and Starrk know each other."

"Well we are in the same grade and have a couple of classes together," Harribel said.

"And no other reason?" Cirucci asked.

"Forgive her," Skullak said. "It's just that she wants to make sure about you."

"Uh…what are you talking about?" Harribel asked.

"We want to make sure that you won't treat our buddy, Starrk here, the same way that his…"

"That's enough," Starrk said and looked at Skullak and Cirucci. "I don't think she wants to hear about that."

"What don't I want to hear?" Harribel asked.

"It's ancient history," Starrk said. "It doesn't matter anymore."

"Starrk, I think she has the right to know," Nel said.

"Nel, it's alright," Harribel said and looked at Starrk who was looking away. "If he doesn't want to talk about it, then he doesn't have to."

"Well, well, well, loitering in front of the school again," Rudobon said as he came down the steps. Four of his Exequias were right behind him and all had their hands folded behind their backs. "I hope you have a…"

"Good morning, Rudobon," Skullak called out and stepped to the front.

"Good morning, Skullak, I didn't realize that you were back. How was the conference?"

"Rather dull at some parts, but the advancements in robotics was actually rather exciting," Skullak said. "I heard that there was a bit of trouble this morning."

"It was nothing more than one of Principal Yamamoto's pranks. Mr. Rureaux is currently taking photos of the graffiti on Principal Luisenbarn's behalf."

"Well, I hope he enjoyed Mr. Yamamoto's greeting."

"He did. I have never seen Principal Luisenbarn so happy about anything except for that award you were to be receiving at the conference."

"Rudobon, I thought I told you not to mention that," Skullak whispered.

"What's this about an award?" Nel asked and nudged Skullak.

"It's nothing really."

"Come on, tell us," Starrk said.

"Yeah, Starrk and I introduced you to Cirucci," Nel said. "The least you can do is tell us about this award."

"It's nothing special. It's just…"

"It was an award on that mathematical formula you helped to develop. You know, the one that was used to prove the existence of those dark particles or whatever," Cirucci said.

"Whoa, you mean you actually helped in Nobel Prize winning research?" Grimmjow asked. "Man, Szayel Aporro and Ulquiorra better watch their backs. They have some serious competition for the school's Biggest Nerd."

"I am quite surprised that you even know what the Nobel Prize is…Blueberry Kitty," Ulquiorra said from behind them.

"Whoa, where did you come from?" Cirucci asked.

"I came from my abode and then I got out of my car," Ulquiorra said and pointed to his Murciélago. "Where else would I be coming from?"

"HOLY SHIT! IT'S CHRIS ANGEL!" Nel shouted. "How did you do that? You just appeared out of thin air."

"Miss Odelschwank, I am not this Christ Angel," Ulquiorra said.

"You're funny, Ulqui," Nel said and chuckled slightly.

"Seriously, Lord Doom, you really need to take that stick out of your ass," Grimmjow said. "Otherwise, you would be walking around with a three foot neck made out of wood."

"That is physically impossible," Ulquiorra said. He looked at Skullak. "Mr. Tuma, I am rather surprised that you could be in the same company as such trash."

"And I'm surprised that you're still hanging around with Yammy," Skullak said.

"I am not hanging around with Yammy."

"HEY ULQUIOOOOOOOOORRAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Yammy yelled as he walked towards them. "Are ya still on for lunch today?"

"Of course I…" Ulquiorra began and then stopped himself. He looked at Grimmjow who was snickering and Skullak who had his head cocked and a sly smile on his face. "Well played, Mr. Tuma."

"ULQUIOOOOOOOOOOORRAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"I am coming, Yammy," Ulquiorra said. "The rest of you better head in as well. Principal Luisenbarn will not be pleased with you if you are late."

_**Grimmjow**_

"Pompous prick," Grimmjow growled as they entered the auditorium.

"I don't know," Skullak said. "I think he just acts that way to hide his true feelings."

"What are you, a shrink?"

"Nope, I'm just very observant," Skullak said as they sat down.

Grimmjow shook his head and looked around. It was the same set up as they had when the visitors from Karakura High came to visit. He looked over to where Szayel Aporro was sitting with his usual group of "minions" and he couldn't help but give a little chuckle. Nel looked at him and he pointed. Nel took one look and began to laugh.

Szayel Aporro was doing his best to disguise himself. He was wearing a fake mustache and a fedora. He replaced his usual wire-rimmed glasses with a pair of fake glasses and a large fake nose. He was also dressed in the school uniform except now he was wearing a skirt.

"He must be trying to hide from Apacci," Grimmjow muttered.

He looked over at Apacci who was looking around. She was mumbling something under her breath. Grimmjow cleared his throat and Apacci glared over at him. He jerked his thumb towards Szayel Aporro and Apacci looked. An evil grin spread across her face and she slammed her knuckled right hand into the palm of her left.

"Oh…I am so going to make you pay, Pink Boy," she said.

"Apacci," Harribel said. "Forget about Szayel Aporro. It's your fault that you drank that soda."

"Yeah, but…" Apacci began.

"No buts," Harribel said and looked at Apacci. "He's embarrassing himself enough as it is dressed like that."

"HEY BRO, LOVE THE OUTFIT!" Yylfordt cried out.

"SHUT UP, IMBECILE!" Szayel called back, but he was facing away from his brother.

"I'M OVER HERE! MAYBE YOU SHOULD PUT ON YOUR GLASSES!"

"I…AM THE PERFECT BEING!" Szayel Aporro said, this time shouting towards the back of the auditorium.

Grimmjow snickered as Yylfordt and his group were laughing, except for Shawlong who was sitting down with his arms folded across his chest.

"Yylfordt really likes to give his brother a hard time," Nel said.

"Yeah, he does," Starrk said and yawned.

The other students at Las Noches High sat down just as the buzzer rang and the curtain was raised. However, Principal Luisenbarn was not at his usual position behind the podium. Instead there was a silver-haired man with a thin mustache who was dressed like some kind of English Butler. Murmurs arose and the man cleared his throat.

"Ahem, attention students of Las Noches High," he said in a rather prim-and-proper voice.

"Great, another one with a stick shoved up his ass," Grimmjow muttered.

"My name is Chojiro Sasakibe, Vice Principal of Seireitei High. Your principal asked me to speak to you on his behalf as he and Principal Yamamoto are currently going over a few matters."

"Wait a minute, why doesn't our Vice Principal do this?" Harribel asked.

"It's because the Vice Principal rarely ever makes a public appearance," Skullak said. "He's so enigmatic that some say that we don't even have a Vice Principal."

"I think it's because he doesn't bother even showing up," Cirucci said.

"Or…maybe he likes lurking in the background, unseen, until he has his hands around your neck," Mila Rose said and wrapped her hand around Sung-Sun's throat.

"I highly doubt we have a psychotic killer on staff," Sung-Sun said and slapped Mila Rose's hands away. "However, I will grant you that it's odd that the Vice Principal of Las Noches High prefers anonymity."

"Maybe it's because Vice Principals are like the background characters in a manga," Harribel said.

Starrk opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Do you mean a character like Turner in _BattleStar LosLobos_?" he asked.

"Yes," Harribel said. "But I was thinking more along the lines of Lieutenant Kyral of the _BattleStar Senbonzakura_ in the series."

"Uh…okay," Grimmjow said. "Hey Nel, do you understand what they're talking about?"

"_BattleStar LosLobos_, it's a manga and anime series that I guess they both love," Nel said. "It's about an intergalactic war between the Hueco Mundo Confederacy and the Seireitei Empire. The main character is Admiral Los Lobos and it essentially follows his exploits in space. It's a really good series."

"At any rate," Chojiro said. "I am pleased to present to you the students of Seireitei High."

He began to applaud as the doors to the auditorium were opened and the students of Seireitei High in their uniforms of black and white walked in.

_**Ggio**_

Ggio Vega felt as though he would go insane. He was caught in the middle of another one of Avirama and Findor's arguments over, of all things, eagles and lobsters.

"I'm telling you, eagles are way cooler," Avirama said.

"No es exacta," Findor replied. "Can an eagle walk underwater? No, therefore lobsters are superior."

"Yeah right," Avirama said. "Eagles can fly and they have sharp talons and beaks. What do lobsters have? They only have two pincers and that's it."

"But does an eagle taste as good as a lobster? Do they run their own chain of restaurants?"

"God, if you're listening ,please kill me, or better yet, strike these two idiots down," Ggio moaned. He looked over and his eyes fell on a rather petite girl with black hair. She was closely followed by a rather tall and broad boy who was busy stuffing his face with rice crackers. He tried to pry his eyes away from her, but the grace and elegance and strength that were in her movements kept him hypnotized. "She's…she's so beautiful," he whispered.

_**Starrk**_

Starrk watched as the students from Seireitei High filed in. He yawned and leaned back to close his eyes when he heard giggling noises. He opened his eyes and saw two girls looking at him from where they sat. One had long blonde hair and the other had shortly-cropped cranberry red hair. In between them was a white-haired boy who looked as though he would rather be anywhere else other than between these two girls.

He cocked his head slightly, not understanding what was going on. He looked over at Grimmjow who was looking at the girls smiling. Starrk looked back at the girls who were whispering to each other and he gave a polite little wave. That wave brought the two girls into even more hysterical giggling. He then felt as though daggers were being driven into him. He turned and saw Harribel glaring at him.

"Uh…Bel, why are you looking at me like that?"

Harribel only sniffed and turned away. He looked at Nel who also turned away and struck Grimmjow on the head. Starrk shook his head. Girls could be so bizarre sometimes.

"Now then, I will dismiss the Seireitei High students by each row. You will go to the table and pick up your information packet. I want you all to behave in accordance with our host school's guidelines. You are dismissed," Chojiro said.

_**Lilynette**_

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," Momo said as she scurried out of the auditorium.

"What is it?" Lilynette asked.

"He's here," she said. "What am I going to do?"

"Who are you talking about?" Kiyone asked.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya," Tobiume said. "He was my sister's boyfriend."

"Whoa, you had a boyfriend?"

"Ex-boyfriend," Kiyone whispered. "He broke up with her because she was too clingy."

"Aw," Lilynette said and looked at Momo who was pacing the hallway. "Well, he doesn't know what he lost."

"Actually, he does," Sentaro said and pointed at Momo who was busy wringing her hands and pacing. Her eyes were wide and she looked as though she would bolt at any moment. "Pretty much, he got annoyed with her."

"Oh," Lilynette said as Momo began to pull at her hair. "Hey, Momo," Lilynette said.

"What is it? Oh God, what if he sees me? What if he still hates me?"

"Momo, that won't do you any good," Lilynette said as she took hold of her hands. "Look, if you really want to get Toshiro back then you have to show that you're not so clingy or uptight. Look, just spend the whole day as if he's not there."

"How can I do that?" Momo snapped as her eyes began to dart from side-to-side.

"Look, you can just do what you normally do," Lilynette said. "Just be the way you are around us and I'm sure you'll be fine. Okay?"

Momo looked at Lilynette and smiled.

"Okay, I won't let that jerk Toshiro bother me," she said.

Lilynette hoped that Momo would be able to do that.

_**Ggio**_

"Hey, Ggio, are you alright?" Avirama asked.

"Yeah, why do I not look alright?"

"Exacta, you remind me of my little sister whenever she sees our next door neighbor's boy."

"And what do you mean by that?" Ggio asked.

"Love sick," Poww said and then returned to his book.

"Aw, does our li'l handsome beautifully charming gorgeous adventurous solicitous courageous leader have a li'l crush on someone?" Cuuhlhourne asked.

"Would you please stop describing me in so many words? It's frickin' annoying."

"Aw, you don't like my way with words?"

"And I don't like your sense of fashion," Ggio said. "And for God's sake, whenever you talk about me, don't go around spinning on one foot while the other is over your head."

_**Szayel Aporro**_

Szayel Aporro Granz was back in his usual uniform after being dragged into the men's room by one of the Exequias. When Rudobon had cornered him about being out of dress code, he had complained about why they weren't doing anything about Cuuhlhourne.

"It's because Cuuhlhourne would only just get back into the female uniform. So, we don't even bother anymore," Rudobon had said. "You, on the other hand, always wear the normal uniform. Now, GET BACK INTO DRESS CODE!"

"Damn it," Szayel Aporro muttered as he walked down the hall to Mr. Urahara's room.

Unfortunately, he was still wearing his pair of fake glasses and did not see that he was walking into the wall until he struck. He staggered back and something tripped him. He fell backwards and landed on his back. He hissed in pain as the voice he least wanted to hear spoke.

"Well, well, well, I always knew that you had an inferior brain to my own, but I never expected that you were so idiotic enough to mistake your real glasses with fake glasses."

"Mayuri Kurotsuchi," Szayel Aporro growled under his breath. "So you did come."

"You would have known that long before if you hadn't been such a brainless barbarian."

Szayel Aporro took off the fake glasses and put on his real pair. He looked behind Mayuri and saw a girl with long raven black hair standing just behind Mayuri.

"I see that you got yourself an assistant," he said.

"This is my sister, you brainless idiot. Can't you see the resemblance?"

"How can I when you where all of that gaudy makeup? You look like some kind of circus freak."

"DO NOT MOCK MY AWESOME MAKEUP! I wear it to show that I am superior to all of you brainless oafs."

"Is that so?" Szayel Aporro asked and sneered. "In that case, I challenge you to a duel. I take it that like me you are heading for Mr. Urahara's class."

"That is correct."

"In that case, let's perform a little wager. If I can defeat you in the in-class exercise, then I am the most intelligent and perfect being in the world and you must bow before me."

"I see. If I win, then you must allow me to conduct experiments on you for a month," Mayuri said.

"I agree," Szayel Aporro said.

_**Starrk**_

Starrk slept, as usual, while Ukitake was going over the in-class assignment. He felt something strike him on the head. He merely ignored it until he felt it again. His face contorted slightly and he yawned as he opened his eyes slowly. He saw the blonde girl from the Seireitei High looking at him with light blue eyes.

"Good mornin' sleepy head," she said.

"Uh…mornin'," Starrk said and looked around.

He saw that Harribel was glaring at them along with Apacci and Mila Rose. Sung-Sun, however only rolled her eyes.

"So, what's your name?" the girl asked.

"Starrk," he said not sure what was going on.

"I'm Rangiku Matsumoto. It's nice to meet you," she said and held out a hand.

"Uh…nice to meet you too," Starrk said as he shook her hand.

"Alright class, I want you all to break into your groups," Ukitake said. "At the end of twenty minutes, I would like for each group to come up and present what you learned on the assigned chapters. As for our visitors, I would like you to join whatever group you wish."

Starrk sighed as he got into his group. He was glad that he was paired with Harribel in this class as well. Harribel looked at him and then glared behind him. Starrk turned and saw that Rangiku and the girl with shortly-cropped cranberry-colored hair were standing behind him.

"Mind if we join ya?" the other girl asked.

"Uh…"

"Oh no," Harribel said in a slightly hostile tone. "Go right ahead."

"Thanks," Rangiku said as they pulled up a pair of desks and sat down. "Oh, this is my sister Haineko. Now then shall we…" she stopped and slapped her hand to her forehead. "Oh…I almost forgot. Toshiro," she called out.

The silver-haired boy looked at her.

"That's Class President Hitsugaya to you," he said.

"Toshiro likes his little jokes," Rangiku said and made her way towards him. "He's like a cute little brother to me."

"For the last time, Rangiku, I don't like being called 'cute.'"

"Aw, you know you like it when people tell you how cute you are," Haineko said. "So," she said and turned her attention back to Starrk. "Where's the blue-haired guy?"

"You mean Grimmjow?" Starrk asked.

"Ooh, so that's his name. He's such a hotie. So, where is he?"

"He's in another class," Harribel said.

"Aw, that's too bad," Haineko said, giving a little pout. "I would really like to bask some more in his hotness."

"Well, so long as you don't get any ideas," Harribel said.

"Oh, do you have a crush on this Grimmjow guy?" Haineko asked. "Come on, I want to hear all the juicy details."

"Actually, I don't. Grimmjow is just a friend, but my friend Nel likes him," Harribel said.

"Ooh, my gossip senses are tingling," Rangiku sang as she came back dragging a reluctant Toshiro with her.

"They're always tingling," Toshiro muttered.

"So, my sister is getting juicy details about the boy she likes to bask in; now it's my turn. What about Starrkey over here?" she asked and patted Starrk on the head. "Does anyone have a crush on him?"

Harribel looked away and blushed a little.

"Oh, I think we have a winner," Haineko said and she and Rangiku burst out giggling.

"Let's…do the assignment," Harribel said in a soft voice and looked at Starrk who was also blushing.

_**Grimmjow**_

Grimmjow looked as Mayuri and Szayel Aporro faced off. He knew that nothing good would come out of this. He looked over to where Kisuke Urahara sat on the desk, the fan once again over his mouth.

_His grin is probably bigger than the Cheshire Cat's,_ he thought.

"Well, so we have a little rivalry going on between you two," Urahara said.

"Indeed," Szayel Aporro said.

"To say it's a rivalry is making light the situation," Mayuri said and grinned even wider. "I would say that what we have here is a life-or-death struggle."

"Or more along the lines of a matter of which of us is the superior creature," Szayel Aporro said and grinned. "Oh…I am going to enjoy making you admit that I am the superior being."

"Humph, you downgraded yourself from 'perfect' to 'superior.' I guess you now understand just how futile perfection is."

"I have not, you circus clown. When I say that I am superior to you, I am also hinting that I am the perfect being. If you were truly intelligent then you would have seen that."

"So, they're essentially arguing over who is better," Skullak said and rolled his eyes. "That's just typical."

"They've been like that for a long time," Grimmjow whispered. "I don't know how it got started. I only know that it's come to this."

"What a stupid bet," Skullak said and sighed. "Oh well, they only brought it on themselves."

"So, here's what we're going to do," Kisuke said. "I want both of you to choose an assistant to help in your little duel. Your task will be to come up with a way to turn this lump of lead into gold," Kisuke said and held up a lump of lead.

"WHAT?" Mayuri and Szayel Aporro shrieked.

"That's ridiculous," Mayuri said. "It can't be done."

"Are you serious? Do you really expect us to play at being 'Alchemists'? That's the most idiotic thing I've ever heard since I heard Yammy saying that 2+2=17."

"It's either that or you both admit that you are not as smart as you are like the way a certain someone was with a certain formula," Kisuke said and winked at Szayel Aporro.

"What was that about?" Skullak asked.

"Oh man, you missed it," Grimmjow said. "Szayel Aporro tried to create some kind of 'Smart Formula' and…let's just say it failed."

"Wait a minute. Was one time when he got on stage and called Principal Luisenbarn a 'Cuddwy Widdle Penguin'?"

"How did you know?"

"YouTube," Skullak said and shrugged.

"Of course there was also a certain government job that went berserk," Urahara said and winked at Mayuri whose eyes widened in shock. "Now, you both will just have to suck it up and do what you're asked."

"Fine," Mayuri and Szayel Aporro muttered and glared at each other.

_**Harribel**_

Harribel looked at Rangiku and Haineko who were both whispering among themselves while Toshiro was busy looking at the History text. His brow was furrowed and it was clear that he was agitated. Starrk, however, was fast asleep.

"Starrk," she said and struck him with her pen. "Wake up."

"Huh?" Starrk asked as he woke up.

"We need to make sure that we get the assignment done," Harribel said.

Starrk looked at her and then at the text.

"Bel, is something wrong? You got your math textbook out, but not your History text."

"No…nothing's wrong," Harribel said as she dug into her bag.

She grabbed her History text, but as she brought it out, the stuffed chibi wolf fell out. Harribel watched in horror as it made its way towards Starrk and stopped. Starrk reached down and picked it up.

"I think you dropped this," he said and handed it to her.

"Thanks," Harribel said and grabbed it. Her face contorted a bit and she refused to let herself cry.

"Are you sure everything's alright?" Starrk asked.

"I'm sorry," Harribel said. "I guess…I…I…oh, let's just get back to work," she said as she stuffed the wolf back into her bag.

"Oh…alright," Starrk said.

_**Nelliel**_

Nel watched beside Grimmjow as the two looked through the various chemicals. She snickered softly behind her hand as she watched.

"You know something, don't you?" Grimmjow asked.

"Maybe," she said. "Skullak knows something as well," she said.

"Oh…like what?"

"You'll see."

"LUMINA, VERONA, GET THE OXIDE AND THE CHLORIDE TO ME PRONTO!"

"Yes Master Szayel Aporro," the fat twins said and they rushed to get the things that Szayel Aporro demanded.

"NEMU, GET THE DILUTED POTASSIUM YOU WORTHLESS GIRL!"

"Yes Master Mayuri," his sister replied in a rather deadpan manner, but she rolled her eyes.

"So, who do you think's going to end up with the bigger explosion first?" Tesla asked.

"Ten bucks on Psycho Pink," Apacci said and grinned. "When he does, I hope it causes all of that pink hair of his to fall out."

"I'll take a piece of that action," Skullak said. "Twenty bucks that Freakshow causes the explosion first."

"I'll put fifty bucks that both of their little experiments will explode at the same time," Kisuke said.

"You got yourself a deal," Skullak said and smiled. "What, I can't make a friendly little wager?" he asked Grimmjow.

Grimmjow only smiled and raised his hand.

"FIFTY BUCKS SAYS THAT THEIR HAIR WILL BE SMOKING BY THE TIME THEY'RE DONE!" he said.

"Grimmjow, Grimmjow, Grimmjow," Nel said and shook her head. "That's not very fun. It's obvious that their hair will be on fire. THIRTY BUCKS SAYS THAT THEY BLOW OUT ALL OF THE WINDOWS IN THE SCHOOL!" she yelled.

"Done," Kisuke said.

"You see, that's the sort of thing you bet on," Nel said and smirked.

_**Baraggan**_

"So then I told the commanding officer, 'Sir, you may be smart when it comes to matters of battle tactics, but you're as dumb as a rock when it comes to reading geography,'" Yamamoto said.

"Wait, this was Sergeant Hall, right?"

"Yes it was."

"You're right. He was dumb when it came to reading geography. He thought that east was west."

"Exactly. So, he said, 'Look, private, I'm in command and you better listen to me. If the map's pointing east, then that's the way we're going.' I looked at him and I told him straight out, 'YOU DUMBASS, YOU'RE HOLDING THE MAP UPSIDE DOWN!'"

The two laughed at that when there was a tremendous explosion. Both men took cover under the desk.

"DAMN IT, THE HUNS ARE ATTACKING AGAIN!" Yamamoto shouted.

"Wait a minute," Baraggan said. "Those aren't the Huns. It's just…URAHARA! If I told him once, I told him a thousand times. DON'T TRY TO BLOW UP MY SCHOOL!"

_**Starrk**_

Starrk jerked up as did all of the class when the explosion came. Harribel leapt into Starrk and clung to him. Starrk enfolded her in his arms.

"It's alright, Bel," he whispered.

"I know," she said and put her head against his chest. "I know," she said and smiled.

_**Grimmjow**_

Grimmjow and Nel emerged from under the table and looked at the two rivals. He saw that Lumina and Verona were on their backs while Nemu was still standing and looked completely unfazed and untouched by the explosion. Mayuri and Szayel Aporro on the other hand were not so fortunate. They were both covered in soot and their hair was smoking. The windows in the room were gone.

Kisuke emerged from under his desk with the fire extinguisher.

"Well, now that was fun. Mayuri, how would you like to come back for another try?" he asked as the sprinkler system kicked on and the fire alarm kicked in. He brought out an umbrella and opened it, despite it being bad luck to do such a thing. "Class dismissed."

Outside, they could hear sirens approaching.

_**Lilynette**_

"YES!" Lilynette shouted. "This…is so…AWESOME!"

"Yeah, it looks as though we can get out of school early," Sentaro said.

"WAAAAAH! I WANTED TO STAY AND HELP UKITAKE!" Kiyone said.

"HEY, NO FAIR," Sentaro shouted. "I WANTED TO STAY AND HELP UKITAKE TOO!"

"YOU DID NOT!"

"DID TOO!"

"DID NOT!"

Lilynette shook her head while the two argued. She looked over to Momo who looked at the completely windowless school and the firemen who were taking charge.

"Principal Luisenbarn's not going to be too happy about this," she said.

"Yeah, no kidding," Lilynette replied. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Well, I'm a little shaken up, but other than that…"

Lilynette smiled. She watched as the students from the second floor were making their way out. Starrk and Harribel had their arms around each other and Lilynette grinned.

"Kiyone, you have your camera right?"

"Sure do."

"Take a picture of those two," she said and grinned as she pointed to her brother and Harribel.

Kiyone grinned as well as she brought her camera out.

_**Grimmjow**_

"It looks like I won thirty bucks," Nel said as she left.

"What are you talking about?" Grimmjow asked.

"Every single window in the school was blown out."

"Not quite," he said and pointed to one of the downstairs windows.

Nel looked at Grimmjow and then at the window. She sighed and made her way towards it. Grimmjow watched as she beat a fist against the window pane and the window fell out in tiny pieces. She wiped her hands and rejoined him.

"There, now I won thirty bucks," she said.

"You never cease to amaze me," Grimmjow said.

"Good," she said. "Come on, we both owe Kisuke some money. He was right about their explosion being simultaneous."

"Hey, wait a minute," Grimmjow said. "You knew that something was going to happen."

"Of course I did. Anyone would have known. You can't turn lead into gold. It's impossible to change an element without changing the number of electrons in each of their individual electrons. However, those two idiots didn't want to admit that they've made mistakes in the past. So, they went ahead with Kisuke's game. I hope they learned a little lesson in humility."

As they watched they saw Szayel Aporro and Mayuri arguing with each other.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU ARROGANT FOOL!" Mayuri shouted.

"MY FAULT? NO, IT WAS YOUR FAULT YOU MADE UP BUFFOON!" Szayel Aporro shouted.

"Yeah, fat chance of that happening," Grimmjow said and shook his head.

_**Ulquiorra**_

Ulquiorra shook his head when he saw his Murciélago. The car itself was relatively unscathed except for a scrape along the side that was caused by a chunk of falling glass.

"I'm glad I don't have to clean this up," Zommari said as he walked by.

"What do you mean?" Ulquiorra asked.

"I wasn't on duty when this happened," he said. "He was," he said and pointed to a rather sour looking man who was making his way up the stairs. "He gets to clean it up."

"I see," Ulquiorra said. "What about that piece of graffiti?"

"Still there," Zommari said and chuckled. "I overheard Yamamoto telling Baraggan that he hasn't had this much fun since dodging bombs back in the War. He hopes that Baraggan will invite him back sometime that way they can finish their visit."

"I do not think that is very likely," Ulquiorra said as he looked at the windowless school.

"ATTENTION ALL OF YOU LOUSY, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING, INGRATES!" Baraggan shouted. "DUE TO THE IDIOTIC ACTIONS OF SZAYEL APORRO GRANZ AND MAYURI KUROSTUCH, SCHOOL WILL BE CANCELED FOR THE REST OF THE DAY!" There were cheers at that. "THIS IS NOT A CAUSE OF CELEBRATION! NEXT WEEK, WE'LL BE HOLDING AN EXTRA HOUR OF CLASS TO MAKE UP FOR THE LOST TIME!" There were moans at that. "JUST BE GRATEFUL THAT I DON'T MAKE IT TWO HOURS!"

_**Starrk**_

"Well that sucks," Grimmjow said. "Just because Psycho Pink and Psycho Face got us out of school early doesn't mean that Baraggan can just assign us an extra hour of school next week."

"He can," Skullak said and sighed. "Man, out of all of the days to come back, I come back on the weirdest day."

"Yeah," Cirucci said. "Maybe we should have just taken today off."

"Are you kidding?" Skullak asked as he wrapped his arm around Cirucci. "I wouldn't have missed this for anything…well, except for your delicious blueberry pancakes."

"Hey, Skullak," Nel said. "That reminds me. Tomorrow, we're getting together with some of the guys from Karakura High for karaoke. Would you like to come?"

"I don't do karaoke," Skullak said.

"Aw, I think it'll be fun," Cirucci said. "That way we can get to know Starrkey's little girlfriend better."

"Wait, what?" Starrk asked.

Harribel blushed at that.

"Wait, you mean you two aren't official?" Skullak said. Starrk and Harribel shook their heads. "I see," he said and turned to Cirucci. The two smiled to each other. "Cirucci, would you help me out in returning the favor I owe Starrk?"

"I'd be more than happy to," Cirucci said.

"Uh…you don't have to…"

"Oh…yes we do," Skullak said and grinned. "And Nel…we're going to do the same with you and Grimmjow here."

"WHAT?" Nel cried out.

"It's our gift to you," Cirucci said. "I mean, it's pretty obvious from what we've seen that you belong with each other."

"Wait a minute," Grimmjow said. "I'm too young to get into a committed relationship."

"Oh stop with the melodrama," Nel said and slapped him on the back.

_**Momo**_

Momo Hinamori giggled as she looked at the photo that Kiyone took. She had to admit that Lilynette's brother and Harribel looked cute together. It was like a real couple. There was a time that she dreamed that she and Toshiro would be that way, but perhaps she was wrong. Perhaps they weren't a really good fit in that regard.

"Momo."

She turned and saw Toshiro looking at her.

"Toshiro."

"That's Class Pre—oh never mind. You're not even in my school," he said and sighed. "I was hoping to get a chance to talk to you."

"Oh?"

"Look, I'm sorry for how things ended between us," Toshiro said. "I was out of line and I wanted to apologize."

"That's alright," Momo said. "I should apologize to you. I now realize just how annoying I must have been, trying to always cling to you and be so needy. I share some of the blame."

"Do you really mean that?" Toshiro asked.

"I do."

"Well, yes, that was a main reason why I broke up with you. But, there's more to it than that," he said. "You see, I see you more as a little sister. At first I thought that maybe I could…you know…fall in love with you, but it never happened. I still view you like a sister, but as anything more…" he shook his head.

"I still see you like a cute little brother," Momo said and smiled.

"For the last time, I don't like anyone thinking me with the words 'cute' and 'little' right next to each other," Toshiro said and sighed. "We're still friends, right?"

"Still friends," Momo said and smiled, "Little Brother."

"FOR THE LAST TIME, I'M TEN DAYS OLDER THAN YOU!"

_**Ggio**_

_Damn it, where is she?_

He was scrambling to find her. He knew that he saw her somewhere in the crowd of students, but he didn't know where. He thought he saw her a couple of times, but each time proved to be a dead-end. He sighed and threw his hands in the air.

"I give up," he said. "I can't find her and I may never see her again."

"Oh…and who is this 'her' you're looking for?"

He turned and his heart stopped. She was standing right in front of him. Her grey eyes seemed to pierce him and he just wanted to drown in them.

"Uh…I…uh…" Ggio spluttered.

"Enough stuttering, you're worse than my annoying cousin, Omaeda," she said. "Tch…he's probably off somewhere eating. So, who are you looking for? Perhaps I can help since I know most of the girls in my school."

"Well…uh…I don't exactly know her name," Ggio said.

"HEY, GGIO, STOP MESSING AROUND AND JUST TELL HER! YOU CAN DO IT! YOU CAN DO IT! YOU CAN DO IT!"

"EXACTA!"

"WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP? I'M TRYING TO GET HER NAME RIGHT NOW!" He gasped as he realized what he said and turned to look at her.

"I see," she said. "Yep, I should have known. You really were looking for me."

"You…you knew?"

"You boys are so clueless," she said and shook her head. "I was hoping to track you down at lunch, but that ain't gonna happen. The idea that you would pursue me never crossed my mind. I must admit, I find you boys fascinating. It seems that when you find someone you like…you just prefer to cower, but you…you actually went after me. I'm impressed."

"Well then, perhaps we can get back on the right foot," Ggio said. "I'm Ggio Vega."

"I'm Sui-Feng," she said.

"Sui-Feng," he said and smiled. "I like that name."

_**Harribel**_

Harribel pulled into the driveway and turned off the car. She switched the engine off and grabbed her bag. She opened it and saw the stuffed wolf staring back at her. She smiled as she took it out and smelled it. It had his scent on it. Some of his scent rubbed onto it as he handed it back to her. She smiled as she got out. She got the key to the front door ready when it opened.

"Ah, you're back already?"

"Yeah, school got cancelled for the rest of the day because of an…incident."

"I know. And the man responsible is here as well. I was just having a nice little chat with him."

"I bet you were, Aunt Yoruichi," Harribel said.

"Well, your mother has been telling me that you met someone," Yoruichi said.

"That's right," Harribel said as she entered. "Just don't tell Kisuke about it. He would probably use it to embarrass me in front of everybody."

"My lips are sealed," Yoruichi said. "So, who is he? Do I know him?"

"You do," she said. "He said that you helped him and his little sister out a while back."

Yoruichi looked at her and smiled.

"Coyote Starrk," she said and chuckled. "You like Coyote Starrk."

"Yeah, I…I do," she said.

Yoruichi smiled and embraced Harribel.

"That's good," she said. "Your mother was worried that you might have fallen for someone like…like your old boyfriend. But I'm happy. You found a great guy to fall in love with."

_**Starrk**_

Starrk opened the door and ushered Lilynette inside.

"I want you to do whatever homework you got assigned. I'll order pizza for us."

"Okay," Lilynette said.

Starrk sighed and closed the door behind him. He walked over to the phone. He saw that there were two missed calls. He wondered if he should just let Uncle Dordoni handle it. However, he picked up the pad and pen next to the telephone and dialed the number for the voice mail. The first message was from someone named Aruji Enma and sounded like business. He saved that message while writing the number that Mr. Enma gave. He then proceeded to the next message.

"Hey, Starrk, it's Ichigo. I was just wanting to make sure that we were still going to get together for…uh…hold on…"

There was the sound of the phone being passed and then Rukia's voice came on.

"Hello, Starrk, it's me, Rukia. I wanted to make sure that we were still on for this weekend. Anyways, I wanted to let you know that my brother, Byakuya, wanted to give you something. He said something about knowing your father…I don't know. Anyways, when you get this, please call us. We got today off since Isshin decided to take the day off with the rest of the staff and go to some retreat so we'll be here all day with Orihime and Uryu. Hope to talk to you soon."

Starrk shook his head. He couldn't have heard right. Rukia's brother knew his father? He listened to the message again and listened carefully. He felt tears come to his eyes. It was the first time in years that someone mentioned his father. He saved that message as well and sat back.

"Starrk, is everything alright?" Lilynette asked.

"Yeah," Starrk said. "I just…I just needed to find the number for the pizza place. What would you like?"

"Italian sausage and green peppers," Lilynette said.

"Alright," Starrk said. "I tell you what. How about you call your friends on your cell phone? You can invite them over. That way you can work on whatever assignments you got and have lunch."

"Really?"

"Sure, I don't see why not."

"Thanks Starrk, you're the greatest," she said and hugged him.

"You're the best little sis that a brother could ask for," Starrk said and smiled.

"So, are you going to invite Harribel over too?"

Starrk looked at her and then smiled.

"Sure, and I'll invite the others over as well. We'll just have a pizza party today."

"That sounds great," Lilynette said.

"You better get moving. You can call from your cell phone and I'll call from mine. Make sure to tell me what everyone wants on their pizza."

Lilynette nodded and rushed off. Starrk smiled as he looked after her. He got out his planner and looked at the phone numbers. He began to dial Harribel's number, hoping that she was in the mood for pizza.

**End of Chapter 4**

**A.N.: Hey guys, I hope that you're all enjoying your summer. Anyways, I didn't do anything mean to Nnoitora this time, but I hope that my punishment for Mayuri and Szayel Aporro made up for it (even though they would never admit to being wrong). And it looks like another lovely couple is starting to form.**

**Anyways, that's all for now and next time is the first date :D**

**Thank you for reading and please review.**


	5. Chapter 5: Romancing the Pizza

**Life at Las Noches High**

**Chapter 5: Romancing the Pizza**

"…and two liters of Coke," Starrk said. "Yes, that will be it. I'll pick it up. Thank you, bye," he said and hung up the phone. "Alright, I got it ordered," he said and turned to where Grimmjow sat striding on one of the chairs, his arms folded on top.

"Hey man, I'm glad ya thought of this," Grimmjow said.

"Yeah, this is gonna be so much fun," Nel said. "How much do I owe ya for my part?"

"Nel, let me take care of that," Grimmjow said.

"Oh no, you don't," Nel said. "I insist for paying for my own order."

"However, if you two would become a couple…" Cirucci said as she walked in.

"NO!" Grimmjow yelled in horror. "I'M TOO YOUNG TO GET HITCHED!"

"Idiot," Starrk said. "She wasn't talking about marriage. She was just talking about being a couple with Nel."

"I still consider it getting hitched," Grimmjow said. "I mean…it's a committed relationship."

"What's wrong with that?" Cirucci asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"It's just…not my thing," Grimmjow said.

"Oh…is that so?" Starrk asked. "I think that somebody's a scaredy-cat."

"Agh…et tu Starrk?" Grimmjow asked and pretended to have a dagger sticking out of his chest.

"Enough with the melodramatics," Nel said and hit Grimmjow on the shoulder. "He's joking about how committed relationships aren't his thing, right?"

"Of course he is," Starrk said. "He's committed to playing football and he does like you. He kept hounding me for answers when I told him I knew you, but…"

"But what?"

"No, that's for him to explain," Starrk said.

"What are you talking about?" Nel asked. "I mean, I know that you're afraid because of what happened with…"

"Please, don't say her name," Starrk said. He sighed. "Let's just say that Grimmjow has his own baggage and leave it at that."

Nel looked at Starrk and knew that he was serious about that. She looked back at Grimmjow who was pretending to be too busy dying to actually die. She shook her head and kicked him gently in the ribs.

"Alright, enough playing goldfish out of water," Nel said. "What do you say that we get the living room set up? We're gonna be awfully crowded."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Grimmjow said from the floor and gave off a tiny salute.

"Shouldn't you be standing at attention?" Cirucci asked.

"I'll go pick up the stuff," Starrk said. "Skullak, I take it that you brought your collection."

"Oh yeah," Skullak said from the living area and held up a thick CD binder. "I've got over 300 Blu-rays and DVDs in this baby. Plus there's your own movie collection too. Do you mind if I go through it?"

"Not at all," Starrk said. "But be forewarned, most of them are classics."

"Isn't that what Nnoitora calls his collection?" Skullak asked and grinned.

"Unlike Nnoitora, I don't consider something like _Titty-Titty Bang-Bang_ a 'classic.'"

"Wow, I'm actually surprised that you know the name of an actual porn movie," Skullak said. "Mind telling me what you thought of such an immortal 'classic.'"

"Shut up," Starrk said and Skullak laughed. "Lilynette, would you like to come with me? I'm going to pick up the stuff from the pizza place."

"Sure thing," Lilynette said as she came out of her room.

"Did you and your friends get done with your homework?"

"We sure did. Since school let out really early thanks to Psycho Pink and Crazy Face, we didn't have that much to do," Kiyone said. "Hey, thanks for inviting us over."

"It's not a problem. Although…I should have asked Uncle Dordoni if it was alright," Starrk said.

"He'll be cool with it," Lilynette said.

_**Harribel**_

Harribel pulled in front of Starrk's house just as Starrk and Lilynette were heading out. She honked to let Starrk know that she was there. He looked at her and waved and whispered to Lilynette who nodded and got into the passenger seat. He walked towards her as she stopped the car and got out.

"Hey Bel, I'm glad you could make it," Starrk said.

"Thanks for the invite," Harribel said and smiled. "So…where are you heading?"

"Pick up the order," Starrk said. "Ichigo should be here soon with Rukia and Orihime. You're welcome to go on in. Most of the others are there."

"Great and Sung-Sun said she'll come by a little later with Mila Rose and Apacci."

_Oh boy,_ Starrk thought.

"Don't worry. They'll behave themselves…I hope."

"I just hope they don't rip off anyone's head…especially mine. I like it where it is," he said.

"I'm sure they won't," Harribel said and smiled. "So…"

"HEY STARRK!" Grimmjow called out. "HURRY UP AND GET THE PIZZA BEFORE IT GETS COLD!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Starrk muttered. "Well, I better get going. I think that the savages are getting a little restless."

"Well, one savage in particular," Harribel said.

"I HEARD THAT!" Grimmjow yelled out again.

"I sometimes think that he has the ears of a cat," Starrk said.

"Well, you better get going then before the cat decides to scratch you to get moving," Harribel said and smiled.

"Yeah," Starrk said. "It shouldn't take that long. I'll be back before too long."

"Or…perhaps I could go with you," Harribel said.

Starrk was taken aback at that. He hadn't expected her to offer to ride with him. He smiled.

"Sure, if you want to."

"Great, so should I sit in the back or…?"

"It's OK," Lilynette said. "I'll sit in the back. Now come on, let's go."

_**Grimmjow**_

Grimmjow smiled as he watched Starrk open the passenger door for Harribel.

"Well, look at that," Skullak said, his blue eyes sparkling with glee. "It looks as though Cirucci and I won't have to do much with those two, but you…"

"Shut up," Grimmjow said.

"Grimm, I know that you're worried you won't make a good boyfriend for Nel," Skullak said. "However, you don't know for sure unless you try."

"Oh shut up, what do you know about it?"

"I know plenty. I remember when Nel and Starrk tried to set me and Cirucci up on a date I was scared. I was scared that she would reject me or that I would do something to hurt her. It's normal to be afraid, but you can't let that fear control you."

"That's the thing. I'm afraid that I'm too much like my dad like my mom says I am."

Skullak looked at Grimmjow in silence and sighed.

"Grimm, we are not meant to be like our parents in every regard. We're supposed to learn from them and that includes their mistakes. That way we can be a better generation. Sure we'll make mistakes. After all, no one's perfect."

"What about you, Skullak? Have you ever worried about hurting the ones you care about?"

"Of course I do. Why do you think I don't drink alcohol?" he asked and fell silent. "You know. I bet if you talk to Nel and be honest with her, then you'd find out that she would say the same thing I told you. You are not your father. Now, come on. Let's get the furniture moved around and then we can raid Starrk's movie library."

"I saw that you brought yours," Grimmjow said and smiled.

"Only 320 or so," Skullak said. "I had to leave the other binders at home."

"Yeah, but I bet that your movie collection isn't as large as Nnoitora's porn collection," Grimmjow said, grinning.

"Are you kidding me?" Skullak asked. "Nnoitora's collection is the Library of Congress of porn."

They both laughed at that.

_**Nelliel**_

Nel and Cirucci were with Kiyone and Momo and Tobiume when they heard Grimmjow and Skullak laughing from the other room.

"I wonder what they find so funny," Momo said.

"Well, definitely not physics," Cirucci said. "Skullak may be a genius when it comes to math and science, but he doesn't focus too much on it."

"Yeah, you wouldn't know it just by looking at him," Nel said.

"That's for sure," Tobiume said as she brought down a bowl for the chips. "I mean he looks as though he would be more into sports than nerdy stuff like math."

"What surprises me even more is that he's friends with you and Starrk," Momo said.

"Yeah," Nel said. "We met way back in kindergarten. It was my first day and some boy took my juice box and ruined my animal crackers."

"Was it Nnoitora?" Kiyone asked.

"Come to think of it…I think it was Nnoitora," Nel said. "Anyways, I'm sitting in the corner crying when these two boys came up. At first I thought that they would make fun of me or something, but then one of them gives me his juice box and the other gives me his animal crackers. Ever since then I've been friends with Starrk and Skullak."

"And you never developed a crush on either one?" Momo asked.

"Nope," Nel said and smiled. "We pretty much knew that we would only be friends, but sometimes I feel they're more like brothers to me."

"And now you've got Grimmjow," Cirucci said, smiling.

"Yes," Nel said. Her face went a little red and her smile became a little bigger. "Now I have Grimmjow…I hope. I wouldn't mind going out with him."

"Well, Skullak and I will work on him," Cirucci said. "We could set something up for you tomorrow when we go out for karaoke tomorrow."

"I thought Skullak said he wouldn't go," Nel said.

"We talked about it on our way here," Cirucci said. "Let's just say we came to an understanding. After all, karaoke does include duets."

"Oh…do you have something in mind for Grimmjow and me?"

"And for Starrk and Harribel," Cirucci said with a wink.

_**Starrk**_

Starrk pulled into the parking lot of Hachi's Pizza. The sign itself showed a large guy with short pink-dyed hair and a pink-dyed mustache wearing chef whites and a chef's hat holding a tray of pizza.

"Here we are," Starrk said.

"Hmm, Hachi's Pizza, I've never heard of them," Harribel said.

"They're a local company," Lilynette said. "This is the only location, but they're really good. They only use all natural ingredients and their tomato sauce is based on an old family recipe."

"That's right," Starrk said. "They should be about ready now. They're very, _very_ prompt on being on time."

"Part of it's because of Hiyori," Lilynette said.

"Who?"

"You'll see," Lilynette said with a grin.

They walked to the front glass door. Starrk's mouth began to water when he opened the door and the aromas of freshly baked bread, the blend of spices, and cooked meat and vegetables hit them. He thought that there were so few aromas that smelled as good as freshly-baked pizza. He smiled when he saw the blonde-haired buck-toothed man behind the counter.

"STARRK!" Shinji cried out. "It's been a while."

"Hey Shinji," Starrk said. "How have things been?"

"Busy," Shinji said. "Hey, I heard that your school blew up. Is that true?"

"There was an explosion, but the school's still standing."

"Ah…so was it that guy with pink hair and claiming to be the 'Perfect being' or something like that?"

"Yeah, and there was another guy with crazy make-up," Lilynette said.

"Ah, Mayuri Kurotsuchi," Shinji said. "He has a reputation. But of course both of them are rather insane."

"Yeah," Starrk said. "Anyways, I'm here to pick up my order."

"Oh yes, of course," Shinji said. "Just let me get it for you. HEY, HIYORI, PICK UP FOR ORDER 32!"

"I KNOW, DUMBASS, I'M GETTING IT!"

"THANK YOU!"

"YOU'RE WELCOME, DUMBASS!"

"I guess she really likes calling you 'Dumbass' for some reason," Harribel said.

"Whoa…hello there beautiful," Shinji said, smiling. "I'm Shinji Hirako. It's really nice to meet you uh…"

"Tia Harribel," Harribel said.

"Ah…I think I'm in love," Shinji said.

At that moment a small girl flew out of the back sideways and hit him in the side. Shinji went sprawling to the floor.

"You say that to every pretty girl you meet, Dumbass," the girl said.

"OW, HIYORI WHY'D YOU DO THAT?"

"It's because all of Starrk's order is ready except the soda, dumbass. Now go the fridge and get it."

"Shouldn't you be the one doing that?"

"DUMBASS!" Hiyori shouted and struck Shinji across the face with a sandal she brought from under her belt. "You forgot the soda. You get it."

"Fine," Shinji said and stalked off.

"Sorry about that," Hiyori said. "I'm Hiyori Sarugaki by the way." Harribel shook the hand that Hiyori offered. "Hey Lilynette, how have you been?"

"Well, I just started High School and it's going great. I made a lot of new friends."

"Great to hear," Hiyori said. "So Starrk, I understand that your Uncle is going to get a promotion."

"Yeah, Uncle Dordoni is one of the final candidates for the vacant seat on the board of directors," Starrk said. "However, Mr. Arruruerie could decide to keep him where he is now. But you never know."

"That's right," Hiyori said.

"So…uh…how do you know Starrk's uncle?"

"That's easy," Shinji said as he came back carrying two bags of soda and putting them on the counter. "Dordoni was the one who got Hachi his start-up loan to open his own pizza shop."

"Yeah, so…how much do I owe you?" Starrk asked as he brought out his credit card.

"Let's see," Hiyori said. "You got ten large pizzas, two large orders of pasta, five 2-liter bottles of soda and with your discount…$55.00."

Harribel looked in shock. For an order that size it should have at least been $120. Hachi must have been_ really _grateful to Dordoni.

"The price must have gone up a bit," Starrk said.

"You know how inflation is," Shinji said as he came back with the pizzas.

"Yes I do," Starrk said and chuckled. "I don't see the others around today."

"They're all making deliveries," Hiyori said. "Hachi had to go out to meet with the suppliers and he won't get back until tonight."

"Alright, well, say 'Hi' for me," Starrk said.

"Will do," Shinji said. "As for you, Miss Harribel, here's my number," he said and passed a business card to her. "Call anytime."

"Dumbass," Hiyori said and hit Shinji on the head.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"It's perfectly obvious that she's with Starrk," Hiyori said. "That means that she's not available."

Harribel blushed at that. She looked at Starrk and saw that his face went as red as…well…as tomato sauce.

"Aw," Shinji said. "Once again, I find myself out of love."

"Oh give it a rest," Hiyori said, rolling her eyes. "Now…WE HAVE MORE ORDERS TO FILL! SO CHOP-CHOP, DUMBASS!"

She kicked Shinji into the kitchen area. She gave a polite nod to Starrk before going into the back as well.

"Well, those two were rather…interesting," Harribel said as she grabbed some of the boxes.

"Here Lilynette," Starrk said and handed her a large paper bag and the car keys. "There's the pasta and would you please unlock the door to the car?"

"Sure, no problem," Lilynette said. "Stuff in the back seat with me?"

"You know it. And make sure that none of it slides around. The last thing we need is for any of the pizza to get on the floor instead of in our mouths."

_**Ichigo**_

"I think this is it," Ichigo said as he stopped his car and looked at the house.

"Well, it's the right number," Rukia said.

"It is?" Ichigo asked.

He took the sheet of paper with the address that Grimmjow gave them and looked at it. He then looked back at the house and shrugged.

"I guess you're right," he said.

At that moment the front door opened and Grimmjow strode out. He grinned his signature slasher grin.

"KUROSAKI!" he called out.

"JAGERJAQUEZ!" Ichigo called out in return as he got out.

"You remember what tomorrow is, right?"

"Of course I remember. It's…"

"OUR KARAOKE BATTLE!" they shouted and gave each other a high-five.

"Oh man, I am so going to kick your ass," Grimmjow said.

"Oh come on. We both know that when you 'sing' you repulse even female cats."

"Oh really," Grimmjow said. "When you sing it makes the strawberries want to whither up and die."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

"Well, when you sing, an army of vets come rushing out to put you to sleep."

"When you sing, you attract a mob of pitchfork-carrying, torch-wielding villagers who want to put an end to that yowling you call 'singing' to a permanent end."

They continued this little battle of insults to each other's singings for a couple of minutes. Nel came out and saw this and shook her head.

"Boys can be so strange," she said.

"I know," Rukia said. "It's as though they can't help themselves."

"I don't know," Orihime said. "Ulquiorra hardly gets into squabbles like this."

"Except against Grimmjow," Nel said. "I think they're kind of jealous of each other. Speaking of Ulquiorra, where is he?"

"He wouldn't come," Orihime said and pouted.

_**Ulquiorra**_

Being the good student that he was, Ulquiorra sat at his cherry wood desk, working on his homework. All of a sudden he sneezed. He looked up from his homework and out his window.

"That is most peculiar," he said. "I do not usually have allergy problems at this time of year."

_**Grimmjow**_

"OH YEAH!" Ichigo called out. "Well, we'll see tomorrow."

"I suppose we will, Strawberry," Grimmjow said. "Even if you beat me in karaoke, there's no way in Hell you'll beat us in next weekend's game."

"I bet we could," Ichigo said.

"Uh…I think that game got pushed back," Rukia said.

"Wait…what?" Grimmjow and Ichigo asked.

"It got pushed back because your coaches forgot that they need to replace those who graduated and not everyone on last year's team is returning," Rukia said. "So it won't be until High School football season really starts."

"Oh…that's right," Grimmjow said. "Huh…that would explain the fliers I saw in Mr. Rureaux's car advertising try-outs for the sports teams."

"And you two only realized this now?" Rukia asked. She rolled her eyes. "Honestly, sometimes I think you guys just don't have any common sense."

At that moment a mustard-colored jeep pulled up. They saw that the three occupants were arguing with each other…well…two of them were arguing while the third looked as though she was about to keel over from fright.

"GOD DAMN IT, APACCI, WERE YOU TRYING TO GET US KILLED?"

"SHUT UP, MILA ROSE! THIS IS MY JEEP AND I DRIVE IT ANY DAMN WAY I PLEASE!"

"BUT NOT TO WHERE WE COULD GET KILLED!"

"Is…it over?" Sung-Sun moaned.

"Yeah, we're at the perv's house," Mila Rose growled. "And by some miracle we're still alive," she added glaring at Apacci.

"FOR THE LAST TIME, STARRK AIN'T NO PERV!" Grimmjow shouted.

"SHUT UP GRIMM-KITTY!" Mila Rose shouted. "Go cough up a hairball or something."

"I swear, one of these days…" Grimmjow said through gritted teeth.

"One of these days they'll realize that Starrk isn't a perv," Nel said.

_**Harribel**_

"So what is it that your uncle does?" Harribel asked. "I know that Mr. Kyoraku is one of our teachers, but what about your other uncle?"

"Oh, he works for Aaroniero Arruruerie's company, Glotonería Inc. They're kind of a company to help other companies get off the ground. In exchange, they own a portion of that company. Anyways, Uncle Dordoni helps with the financial side of things and negotiates loans for up-and-coming businesses."

"Sounds rather boring," Harribel said.

"Yeah, but Uncle Dordoni likes it. He enjoys meeting new people and he tries to help them out. That's how he and Hachi met and they've been friends ever since."

"And how we can get really good discounts on pizza," Lilynette said.

"Think you can extend some of those discounts to me?" Harribel asked.

"I don't see why not," Starrk said. "Just tell any of the workers that you're related to Yoruichi Shihoin. She's the only other person who can get such a nice discount from them. She helped out with solving a robbery they had a while back. Hachi's always grateful to those who give him support."

"He sounds like a good man," Harribel said.

"He is," Lilynette said. "He may be large and kind of intimidating at first, but he's got a heart of gold."

"Sounds like a cliché," Harribel said and laughed.

When they got closer to the house, Harribel grinned as she saw her three friends arguing, again, with each other and Grimmjow.

"I doubt they'll ever be in one place together and not get into an argument," Starrk said.

As they got out, Harribel was not a bit surprised as to what the query of their argument was.

"I'm telling you for the last time that Starrk is a good guy," Grimmjow snarled.

"Oh, I bet he is," Apacci said. "But for every Dr. Jekyll there's a Mr. Hyde lurking under the surface. We intend to protect Harribel from facing that Mr. Hyde."

"Well, at least you made it plural," Mila Rose scoffed.

"What was that?"

"You heard me. You're finally getting the idea that you're not the only one trying to protect Harribel."

"Well, thank you for your concern," Harribel said.

"Oh…Miss Harribel," Apacci said. "We…uh…you…you rode with _him_?" she asked, pointing at Starrk who was getting the large paper bag with the aluminum trays of pasta and handing it to Lilynette.

"Yes, I was. He was a perfect gentleman. Now, would you please be so kind as to get the pizzas and soda from the back seat. We're here to party; not argue."

"Yes ma'am," Sung-Sun said and rushed to help.

Apacci and Mila Rose looked at each other and then at Harribel. Harribel raised her eyebrows and they mumbled their apologies to her and rushed to get the pizzas.

"Well, that takes care of that," she said.

_**Skullak**_

Skullak looked through Starrk's shelves of DVDs and Blu-rays. He traced the spines with his fingers.

"Let's see. _Unforgiven_, that might be good to see again," he said and pulled it out. "Clint Eastwood's always good, but then again…not enough action," he said and put the film back. "Ooh, this one looks promising," he said and pulled out Starrk's DVD of _The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly_. "Hmm, I wonder if there are any nice explosions."

"Mumbling to yourself again?" Cirucci asked from the doorway.

"Oh…hello, my Sweet Sparrow," Skullak said. "I was just going through Starrk's collection. But most of the films he has are old Westerns. I was surprised to see that he also has copies of _The Maltese Falcon_ and _Gone with the Wind_."

"That means that he has good taste…unlike you."

"What do you mean? I have good taste."

"Oh sure you do. You think Michael Bay is the next Alfred Hitchcock," Cirucci said smirking at him.

"Hey, don't dis Michael Bay. He brought us _Transformers_ and _The Island_ and…"

"Oh spare me," Cirucci said and laughed. "Anyways, the food's here."

"Ooh, I like food," Skullak said. "But I think I enjoy watching a good chase scene or a city getting smashed by giant robots more."

"Oh and what about me?"

"Don't worry. We'd be the ones doing the stomping."

"And probably get our asses handed to us by the hero."

"Bah…the hero is the most boring character in any action movie. The villain however…"

Cirucci rolled her eyes and nudged him in the arm. Skullak looked at her in surprise.

"Come on, let's get…" she stopped when she saw the photo on Starrk's bedside table.

It showed a much younger Starrk with his mother and father. His mother, a blonde-haired woman with sparkling pink eyes, was holding a three-year old Lilynette who was trying to hit her brother. Starrk's father, a handsome man with dark-brown hair was smiling. Starrk…looked as though he would fall asleep.

"I bet he still misses them," she whispered.

"Yeah," Skullak said. "Lilynette never really knew them. For a few days it was just Starrk and Lilynette until Yoruichi took them in."

Cirucci held Skullak's hand. She knew that the Starrks were good friends with his family, but Skullak and his parents were on vacation when the accident happened. They both knew that it was the reason why Starrk was so protective of Lilynette.

"I just wish that there was something I could have done for him," Skullak said.

"You're his friend. You were there when you could be and that was enough," Cirucci said. "Now come on. Enough of the sad stuff and let's get focused on having a good time."

Skullak smiled and nodded.

_**Starrk**_

Starrk was relieved to see that the furniture in the living area was set up to where everyone could fit. The big screen TV was ready to go for their movie marathon. Ichigo and Rukia were setting out paper plates and napkins while Grimmjow and Nel were seeing where they could fit the food.

"You can set some of the stuff on the counter," Starrk said.

"Oh…right," Grimmjow said.

"HEY, I'M SITTING THERE!" Apacci shouted.

"NO YOU'RE NOT! I AM!" Mila Rose shouted back.

"I don't see your name on it," Apacci sneered.

"And I don't see your name either," Mila Rose said.

Sung-Sun sighed and sat down in the spot the three were arguing over.

"There, problem solved," she said and gave a little smirk.

"HEY!" the two girls shouted.

"I'm telling you _Blade Runner_ is the best Sci-Fi movie ever made," Grimmjow said.

"And I'm telling you that honor goes to either _The Matrix_ or the original _Star Wars_," Skullak said. "There aren't any action scenes in _Blade Runner_."

"Oh come on, _Blade Runner _has Roy Batty, one of the best film characters ever," Grimmjow said.

"That may be, but it doesn't have Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith. Agent Smith is one of the most interesting characters ever developed," Skullak replied.

"That may be but there were two crappy sequels out of it."

"I don't know. _Matrix Reloaded_ had some good parts," Starrk said.

"NO WAY! _Matrix Revolutions_ had the best action sequences. _Reloaded_ had one good fight scene with Neo against a hundred Agent Smiths and most of it was boring philosophical crap that didn't make any sense," Skullak said.

"Actually the first one was the best because it was the right blend of action and philosophical debate," Starrk said.

Skullak thought about it and sighed.

"That's true. Also, it made the best use of bullet-time."

"It was the one that pioneered that technique," Harribel said as she came out with a pile of napkins. "Besides, I'm surprised that neither of you mentioned _2001: A Space Odyssey_."

"Confusing," Skullak said.

"Boring," Grimmjow said.

"WHAT?" Starrk cried out. "It had HAL 9000. 'I'm sorry Dave. I can't do that,'" he said in a near-perfect imitation of the villainous computer.

"Whoa, are you channeling Ulquiorra?" Skullak asked.

"Well, I'm glad someone gets it," Harribel said and patted Starrk on the back.

"What about _Alien_?" Lilynette asked. "I mean, what's cooler than an alien popping out of a guy's chest?"

They all looked at her and then at each other.

"I yield to that one," Skullak said.

"No kidding," Grimmjow said. "I haven't seen it in a while."

"That alien's one of Nnoitora's secret love children," Starrk said. "He got so desperate that he made out with the Queen from _Aliens _and now he has thousands of love babies, or love face-huggers, spread across the universe because of it."

They all laughed at that.

_**Nnoitora**_

At his home, Nnoitora, who was watching...you guessed it...porn, sneezed.

"Bless you, Master Nnoitora," Tesla said from the table where he was doing homework.

"I…I think somebody was talking about me," Nnoitora said and sneezed again. "I just hope it's some pretty girl moaning my name."

"I highly doubt that," Tesla murmured just low enough for his master not to hear.

_**Harribel**_

"Oh God…could you imagine what it would be like for him if that creature came asking for child support?" Harribel asked.

"Yeah…he would probably get his head ripped off and then fed to his love babies," Grimmjow said and laughed.

"Alright now, enough of that," Starrk said. "Skullak, since you brought over a part of your collection, you can have first choice of movie."

"Thanks," Skullak said.

"So…what kind of movies is he into?" Harribel asked.

"Action for the most part," Starrk said. "He likes it when there's a lot of shooting and explosions going on."

"What about you?"

"Well…I guess it wouldn't hurt to let you take a look. Come on," Starrk said.

"JUST DON'T BE LONG YOU TWO!" Grimmjow shouted out.

"AHA!" Apacci shouted. "I KNEW IT! YOU'RE TRYING TO GET HARRIBEL INTO YOUR LOVE DEN!"

"I…I would never…" Starrk said.

"Apacci, I highly doubt that Starrk would try anything," Harribel said. "He's just going to show me his movie collection."

"I bet it's nothing but porno anyways," Apacci muttered.

"Don't worry, they'll grow to like you," Harribel said as they walked up the stairs. "You…uh…don't have anything too embarrassing."

"Not unless Nnoitora snuck in sometime and planted something…or Grimmjow," Starrk said. "Anyways, it's right over here," he said and opened a door.

Harribel looked around at Starrk's room. The bed was somewhat untidy, but that was to be expected although she was surprised to see a stuffed wolf. She looked at the posters on the wall. One showed Clint Eastwood as The Man with No Name standing in his serape and smoking a cigarillo. The other poster was a framed theater poster for _The Maltese Falcon_. She then looked at the bookshelves and brushed a hand over some of the titles. She was surprised to see some of the same authors she liked: Flannery O'Connor, Thomas Wolfe, and Oscar Wilde. Others she never even heard of before: Arthur Machen, Peter Straub, and Clive Barker.

Then there was another bookshelf completely devoted to manga. She knew that he liked manga, but the titles he had showed a wide range of taste: _BattleStar LosLobos_ was next to _20__th__ Century Boys_ by Naoki Urasawa. The collection for _White Out_, a series about a boy who becomes a Soul Reaper and must contend with a group calling themselves the Ten Blades, was next to _Moonlit Dreams_, a manga series about vampires living among humans in a small mountains, and _Higurashi: When They Cry_.

She then looked at the third bookshelf and was surprised at how many movie titles there were. Some of them were Westerns, but he also had Horror and Sci-Fi and Fantasy and Drama. She took one out and looked at the title.

"_Romancing the Stone_?" she asked in surprise.

"It was my mom's favorite," he said and sat down on the edge of his bed. He reached over and picked up the photo of him and baby Lilynette with their mom and dad. "It was what they saw on their first date."

"Oh, is this them?" Harribel asked as she sat down next to him. "May I take a look?"

"Sure," Starrk said and handed it to her.

"Oh, she's so beautiful," Harribel said. "Your sister looks a lot like her and you look quite a bit like your dad."

"Yeah," Starrk said and sighed. "Your aunt was good friends with them."

"She told me," Harribel said. "But, she would never tell me what happened to them."

"I know," Starrk said.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry into anything too painful for you," Harribel said.

"No, it's alright. They died in a car accident. Lilynette was three and I was five when it happened. It was just the two of us for a few days until Yoruichi made arrangements with Uncle Dordoni. We stayed with her until he got back from his business trip."

"Starrk, I'm so sorry," Harribel said.

"It's alright," Starrk said as he took the photo back and put it back on his bedside table. "I think…they would have liked you."

Harribel looked at him and grabbed his hand. He looked at their hands in surprise and then smiled.

"Come on," Harribel said. "Let's be like a crocodile and eat some pizza."

"Just as long as we don't choke on it," he said. "And also as long as we don't bite our own hand off."

Harribel laughed at that.

"No, that would be very bad. Otherwise we might become somebody's boots."

_**Lilynette**_

Lilynette plopped on the floor in between Kiyone and Momo. She looked at her slice of sausage and green pepper pizza with glee.

"Oh God…it smells so good," Kiyone moaned as she sniffed her pizza.

"I know," Sentaro said as he sat down.

She looked over at Skullak who was flipping through the binder pages. She was surprised to see that every pocket had a DVD or Blu-ray disk.

"So, did you find one?" Starrk asked as he and Harribel came from downstairs.

"Well, it's about time you two got down here," Grimmjow said. "I guess it didn't work out too well, eh? We weren't expecting you to get down here for at least another twenty minutes."

Lilynette had to keep from falling into a full out laughter. Apacci and Mila Rose glared at Starrk. Rukia and Ichigo began to laugh. Harribel cocked an eyebrow at Grimmjow who was hit on the shoulder by Nel. Starrk turned bright red.

"Stop embarrassing the poor guy," Orihime said.

"HA! The likelihood of Grimmjow actually _not_ going out of his way to embarrass someone is non-existent," Skullak said.

"Hush you," Cirucci said and gave him a slight kick on the back with the bottom of her foot. "Less talking and more searching for a movie."

"Okay, okay," Skullak said, grinning. "Ah here we go," he said grinning. "This one's a good one and has one of the best car chase sequences ever filmed: _The French Connection_."

"I figured it would be either that or _Die Hard_ or _Transformers_," Starrk said.

"Am I that predictable?"

"Yes," Cirucci said. "But that's one of the things I like about you."

"Hey, do you have _Inception_?" Lilynette asked. "I've always wanted to see that one."

"As a matter of fact…I do," Skullak said as he flipped through more of the pages until he found the disk. "What do you think?"

"_Inception_," Starrk said. "That one's more recent."

"Alright, _Inception_ it is," Skullak said.

"Sounds great," Kiyone said. "You'll like this, Lilynette. I saw it five times in the theaters."

"Whoa, is it that good?" Lilynette asked.

"Oh yeah," Skullak said. "In fact, it got me interested in psychology."

"Nerd," Grimmjow said.

"And proud of it," Skullak said.

"Okay, so _Inception_ is first," Skullak said. "Let's get this show on the road."

_**Harribel**_

Harribel watched in awe as Leonardo di Caprio and crew moved deeper and deeper into the mind just to plant an idea. The visuals were dazzling and she wished she wanted to see it on the big screen in theaters. She watched in fascination as the top continued to spin and then it blacked-out with the top continuing to spin.

"Wow," she whispered.

"So, was it a dream?" Lilynette asked.

"That's the great thing about the film," Kiyone said. "It leaves it up to the viewer. I fall into the camp that the top continues to spin and that everything that happened is a dream. There's another camp that he's awake up to a certain point and the rest is a dream. Then there are those who think that the top falls over to show he's awake."

"Wow…so confusing," Lilynette said. "I like it."

"It kind of reminds me of the stories of Jorge Luis Borges," Harribel said. "He was into the labyrinthine nature of time and how what we perceive to be reality may not actually be reality."

"Brain…hurts…" Grimmjow moaned.

"No surprise there," Ichigo said.

"Alright, Starrk, you're up. Go get one of your movies," Skullak said.

"I'm surprised you're still awake, Starrk," Grimmjow said.

"Well…" Starrk muttered as he got up from his seat next to Harribel. "I only fall asleep in class."

"Liar," Lilynette said. "You fall asleep all of the time."

"I do not. Okay, maybe I do like to sleep ten hours a day…or maybe thirteen…or fifteen…"

"Told ya," Lilynette said, satisfied.

"Aw, well, I'm proud of you staying awake so long," Nel said.

"Hmm, interesting," Cirucci said. "It seems as though Harribel is Starrk's caffeine."

"WHAT?" Harribel and Starrk called out.

"Oh…is that what it is?" Mila Rose asked. "Yeah…I bet every part of you is awake around Harribel. _Every part_," she said.

"TMI," Tobiume shouted and covered her ears.

"Mila Rose, don't be so crude," Sung-Sun said.

"Tch…whatever," Mila Rose said and leaned back in her seat.

"Starrk, do you want me to get something from your collection or do you want to search through mine?" Skullak asked.

"Well, let's see what you got," Starrk said as he got up.

He sat next to Skullak and they flipped through the binder. Harribel looked at him. She remembered how the first time she saw him he always looked exhausted. But today, here with his friends, he looked wide awake and energized. It was strange. Yet it also seemed to make sense.

_He feels more alive when he's with his friends,_ she thought.

From outside they could hear the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. Starrk and Lilynette looked at each other.

"Oh boy, I never did ask for his permission," Starrk moaned.

"I'm telling you he'll be cool with it," Lilynette said.

The front door opened and Dordoni walked in, a huge smile was on his face.

"I thought there were more cars outside than usual," he said. "I heard that your school got cancelled for the day because of some explosion."

"Yes, Uncle Dordoni," Starrk said. "I'm sorry. I know I should have called you to ask for your permission, but…"

"Nah, there's nothing to worry about, Niño," Dordoni said. "I think it's great to invite your friends over; just as long as you don't get too wild. AH! Grimmjow, it's been a while…and Nel."

"Hey Dordoni," Nel said and hugged him. "I hope that we're not being an inconvenience."

"Oh no, not at all," Dordoni said, laughing. "You kids have fun. I'm going out with some of the guys from the office to get some drinks."

"Oh…that reminds me," Starrk said. "Some guy named Aruji Enma called and wanted to talk to you about business matters."

"Oh yes, I know all about that," Dordoni said. "He called the office and we went over the details for our meeting next week. Anyways, I'll leave you kids to have some fun while I…oh and who is this lovely lady?" he asked.

Starrk turned and saw Harribel standing next to him.

"I'm Tia Harribel," she said. "I'm Starrk's gir—I mean friend."

_Oh my God, I almost called myself his girlfriend. I'm not that…am I?_

"Oh…" Dordoni said, grinning. "Coyote, you never told me about her."

"Well…" Starrk said and ran his hand through his hair.

"Ha, ha, ha, I know what it's like. I was once your age. Well, I hope that we meet again, Miss Harribel."

"Uh…I hope so too," Harribel said.

"Bye, y'all," Dordoni said. "Make sure not to burn the house down. Oh…Skullak…I didn't see you there."

"Hey Dordoni," Skullak said. "Hey, I'm sure my dad will want to know if you'll be coming to Isshin's poker game tonight."

"I would never miss it," Dordoni said, "even though I always lose money."

"You should know that the House always wins," Skullak said.

"And everyone else ends up with nothing but chump change," Dordoni said and laughed. "I know. But Isshin's poker night is always a good way to let off some steam."

"So that's why my dad always pushes me and my sisters out the door every Friday night," Ichigo said.

"Ah…Ichigo," Dordoni said. "You've grown a bit since I last saw you."

"Hello Dordoni," Ichigo said. "Are you still trying to practice jumping from one balance beam to the next in your spare time?"

"Uh…no…I stopped doing that after I had to wear a cast for a few weeks. I'm not as young as I used to be."

"Too bad, my dad's been trying to find someone to race him," Ichigo said.

"Hey now, I only said that I haven't been practicing lately. That doesn't mean I gave it up completely."

"It's an old habit of his," Starrk whispered to Harribel. "He liked to go down to the gym and practice jumping from one balance beam to the next. Unfortunately a couple of months ago, he slipped and fell and broke his leg. I still have no idea how he got started with that habit."

"Sounds…bizarre," Harribel said as Dordoni headed out again. "So…why did he come by if he was only to head out again?"

"He probably wanted to drop his stuff off," Starrk said and shrugged.

_**Lilynette**_

Lilynette watched as Dordoni headed out.

"So, that's your uncle," Momo said.

"Yep," Lilynette replied. "He's a bit odd at times."

She looked over to where Starrk and Harribel were standing.

"Come on, you have to try this one," Starrk said.

"I normally don't like Hawaiian Pizza," Harribel said.

"That's because you've never tried Hachi's Hawaiian Pizza," Starrk said. "Trust me, it's good."

"Oh…alright," Harribel said and took a bite out of the slice that Starrk was holding out for her.

"Well…" Starrk said, smiling.

"That's actually good," Harribel said.

"You see," Starrk said.

"Yeah," Harribel said. She looked to the side a bit and a small smile was on her lips. "Hey, would you kind of consider this a…you know…a date?"

"I…uh…I don't really know," Starrk said. "Would you?"

"I guess," Harribel said as she bit her lower lip.

Lilynette rolled her eyes and returned to her own slice of pizza.

"Alright people," Grimmjow said. "Now then let's get back to the business at hand. Ichigo, we'll settle our score tomorrow at karaoke."

"YOU'RE ON!" Ichigo yelled.

"Damn right," Grimmjow said and he looked at his glass of milk. "I say that we all raise our glasses in a toast."

"Okay, but what are we going to drink to?" Nel asked.

"Well…to the reason why we're here in the first place," Grimmjow said, grinning. "Let's raise our glasses to Psycho Pink and Crazy Face!"

"TO PSYCHO PINK AND CRAZY FACE!" they all cheered and clinked their glasses together.

_**Szayel Aporro**_

"ACHOO!" Szayel Aporro sneezed from his bed.

"What is it now, you mindless oaf?" Mayuri asked from the hospital bed next to him and then he too sneezed.

"I think…somebody's talking about us," Szayel Aporro said.

"Don't be such an imbecile," Mayuri snarled. "That's just an old superstition."

**End of Chapter 5**

**A.N.: I love movies. One of the few Romantic-Comedies that I like is _Romancing the Stone_, which is actually quite enjoyable and is a guilty pleasure of mine. One of my favorite parts in that film is **

**(SPOILER FOR ROMANCING THE STONE) when a crocodile bites off a guys hand while he's holding a giant emerald and at the end, the crocodile died by choking on said emerald and the hero turned him into a pair of boots (END OF SPOILER)**

**which I kind of used as an inside-joke in this chapter. Anyways, the movie titles are real and so are the manga titles of "20th Century Boys" and "Higurashi: When They Cry" . However, "BattleStar LosLobos" (a nod to Battlestar Galactica), "White Out", and "Moonlit Dreams" are fictional manga titles.**

**Also, there actually is an old superstition that when you sneeze it means that somebody's talking about you. It kind of is in the same vein as the one that says that when you get a chill down your spine it means that something's walking over your grave.**

**That's all for now.**

**Thank you for reading and please review.**


	6. Chapter 6: Karaoke Wars

**Life at Las Noches High**

**Chapter 6: Karaoke Wars**

"Starrk, Starrk, STARRK!" Lilynette shouted.

"Ugh…fifteen more minutes," Starrk mumbled as he brought the bed covers closer to him.

Lilynette shook her head.

"Have it your way," she said and then launched herself at her brother.

She landed on him hard and Starrk immediately woke up.

"AAAAGH, Lilynette…"

"Someone needed to get you to wake up," Lilynette said. "Or did you forget what today is?"

Starrk looked at Lilynette and then he slapped his palm to his forehead.

"That's right," he moaned and got up.

"Great, but remember I'm supposed to be at Karin's house by 10:30."

"Huh…what…uh…sure…"

"GREAT! I just need to get my stuff and you need a shower. Now mush."

Starrk sighed and shook his head as Lilynette rushed out of the room. He got up and stretched. He walked slowly to the door.

"HEY! I DON'T HEAR ANY MUSHING!" Lilynette yelled. "DON'T MAKE ME USE THE WHISTLE ON YOU!"

"Gyaah, Lilynette, I'm not a husky and we're not in the Iditarod."

"I'm getting the whistle," Lilynette said as she poked her head out of her room.

"Okay, okay, fine," Starrk said as he made his way to the bathroom.

_**Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez**_

Grimmjow looked at the print-out of the directions to the address that Ichigo gave him. He took a bite from the Egg McMuffin he ordered for breakfast as he started his jeep. He was about to start out of the parking spot when he saw a familiar black Murciélago pulling up.

"Well, this is a surprise," Grimmjow muttered. "Why would his highness, Bat-King, come to a McDonalds?"

He sat back and watched as the passenger-side door opened and Orihime rushed out.

"I THOUGHT THAT WAS YOU," she cried out as she rushed over to Grimmjow.

"Don't tell me that you and Ulqui-Bat stopped here just to say 'Hello'."

"Do not flatter yourself, Lord Blue Furball. Miss Inoue wished to stop to get something to drink and she saw you coming out of this…establishment."

"Yeah, well…wait a minute," Grimmjow said and grinned. "What are you and Orihime doing together?"

"We're catching up on old times," Orihime said.

"I thought you said that Ulquiorra wasn't going to come. Or could it be that you somehow forced him to come?"

Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed.

"If you must know, I am here against my will," Ulquiorra said. "Miss Inoue persuaded my parents to let me come."

"Well, I hope you have a miserable time, Sir Depress-a-lot."

"If I must endure your yowling then I am quite sure that I will be more than miserable."

"Yeah, just as long as I don't have to that squeaking that you call 'singing'."

"Aw, don't be so mean…uh…what was your name again?"

"Uh…are you serious?" Grimmjow asked.

_She can't possibly be that forgetful,_ Grimmjow thought.

"Oh, now I remember," Orihime said. "You're Grimm-Kitty," she said and giggled.

"Great…just great," Grimmjow moaned.

_**Tia Harribel**_

"I've never been to this part of town before," Tia said as she looked at all of the shops around her.

"Well, you're still relatively new to the area," Nelliel said.

They walked through the mobs of morning weekend shoppers. Harribel looked at the display windows. The variety of stores astounded her. Escalators led to more shops above the street-level shops. She couldn't even see the large parking garage where they parked.

"What time did we say we would be meeting at the karaoke club?" Harribel asked.

"The karaoke club doesn't open until 11:00 and it's only 9:15," Nel said. "So we have plenty of time to do some shopping."

"Well, where should we go first?"

"Hmm, well…" Nel said, putting a finger to her lips. "Let's go see if we can find any cute clothes."

"I don't know," Harribel said. "When I start shopping, I tend to go a bit wild."

"It's actually good to go a little wild every now-and-again," Nel said. "My mom always tells me to set a limit on how much I'm going to spend whenever I go on a shopping spree."

"That's a good idea. Do you follow it?"

"Well…" Nel said, blushing. "No. I always view the day my credit card bill arrives as a day of mourning."

Harribel laughed at that. She had trouble with the plastic monster as well.

"Oh God," Nel moaned.

"What is it?" Harribel asked.

"My…my great weakness," she moaned and pointed.

Across the walkway was a Coldstone ice cream shop.

"You do realize that it's too early to have ice cream?"

Nel looked at Harribel in surprise.

"Blasphemer," she said, pointing at Harribel. "It's never too early to have ice cream, especially Coldstone cheesecake ice cream with strawberries in a chocolate dipped waffle bowl. You must be converted."

"Tch…you're really something else," Harribel said, shaking her head. She was trying her best not to burst out laughing.

"Aw, but it's so good. Let's get some, please, oh pretty please," Nel said, giving Harribel the biggest pair of puppy eyes she could manage.

"Oh, alright," Harribel said, rolling her eyes.

"YAY!" Nel shouted, drawing attention.

"Oh boy," Harribel said, smiling.

_**Coyote Starrk**_

Starrk drove his way to the shopping center after dropping Lilynette off at the Kurosaki house. He felt glad that Lilynette was hanging out with good people. It meant that he would most likely not to have to worry about her falling into a bad crowd.

He was glad that when it came to Harribel, Lilynette did not try to force him into a relationship. However, she was more willing to give him a hard time about it. She would continually nag him about Harribel, but he was used to it. Uncle Dordoni, on the other hand, was worse than a horde of gnats on the subject of Harribel.

Only this morning Dordoni had gone on-and-on about her physical attributes. The night before he went on-and-on about how Harribel radiated such grace and refinement and that he must be crazy if he wasn't even thinking about becoming official.

Hearing such things from Lilynette was one thing. She was his little sister after all and she saw it as her duty to give him a hard time about anything. Hearing them from Uncle Dordoni, however, was a little strange, but he was playing the role of nagging parent. That didn't mean that he had to sound like a nagging mother.

He saw the parking garage for the Karakura Shopping Center up ahead and saw that Ichigo's car was about ready to drive into the garage.

_Well, at least I'm on time,_ he thought.

He drove up to the gate. He saw that Ichigo's car was stopped ahead of him as though waiting on him. He shook his head and pressed the red button on the mechanical box beside him. He grabbed the parking receipt and watched as the metal bar rose to let him in. He drove in and followed Ichigo's car in the legendary quest of finding a good parking spot.

He saw Ichigo pulling into a spot and he parked in the spot next to it. As Starrk turned off his engine he saw Ichigo getting out of the car.

"Hey, I thought that was you," Ichigo said.

"Yeah," Starrk said as he rubbed a hand through his hair. "I'm surprised that Grimmjow isn't here yet."

"In all the time I've known him," Ichigo said, "he's been a late arriver."

"Obviously you've never seen him waiting at school," Starrk said. "He's always the first one there."

"You're kidding," Ichigo said. "There's no way that Grimmy would arrive early for anything."

"It's true," Starrk said. "You should ask him about it when he gets here."

"Oh, I will," Ichigo said, grinning.

Rukia got out of the passenger side, wearing a flower-patterned sundress. She brushed her black hair back with her fingers and smiled.

"Hey, it's good to see you again," Rukia said. "Although, why are you dressed like that?"

"It's what I normally wear," Starrk said.

He was wearing a black t-shirt under a long-sleeved shirt that he kept unbuttoned with a pair of blue jeans and loafers.

"I know, but…on a date?" Rukia asked. "I don't think Harribel would approve."

"It's not a date," Starrk said. "Is it?"

"Don't mind Rukia," Ichigo said. "She's always giving me a hard time on how I dress."

"That's because my brother wouldn't approve of my boyfriend looking like some kind of slob."

"Speaking of which," Starrk said, remembering. "You said that your brother knew my dad and had something he wanted to give me."

"That's right," Rukia said and opened her purse. "I mentioned to him about meeting you when our school paid you guys a visit. Anyways, he asked about you and he wanted me to give you this," she said and handed him a small case. "He told me to tell you that if there's anything you need then all you have to do is ask."

Starrk took the small box and opened the lid. He looked at the item inside and felt his throat go dry.

"Did this…?"

"He said that it was your father's," Rukia said.

"What is it?" Ichigo asked.

"It's…it's his old pocket watch," Starrk said. "I vaguely remember it, but…"

He looked at the pocket watch. It was gold with a wolf engraved on it. He flipped the lid open and saw that the watch was still working. Engraved on the lid's underside was "FOR THE PACK". Starrk smiled.

"I remember," he said. "This old thing was in our family for generations. Why did your brother have it?"

"I don't know," Rukia said. "I asked him but he wouldn't tell me."

Starrk smiled as he closed the pocket watch and put it back into the case.

"Thank you," he whispered as he put the case into his pocket. "Would you please tell your brother that I would like to talk with him sometime?"

"Sure," Rukia said. "Now come on, let's make fools of ourselves with some karaoke."

_**Tia Harribel**_

"Oh man, we sure got a lot of stuff," Nel said.

"Did we really have to buy the whole store?" Harribel asked. "I wish that Sung-Sun or Mila Rose or Apacci were here. That way I could dump this stuff on them."

"You could always get Starrk to do that for you," Nel said, grinning.

"I don't know. I would hate to use him as nothing more than a pack mule."

"It's not like you're asking him to carry you down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Besides, I'm sure Starrk wouldn't mind."

"Well, it's good to see that I'm not the only one who got here early enough to do some shopping."

They turned and saw Cirucci coming towards them, her hands full of bags. She was dressed in a black and purple Lolita dress. Her hair was in its usual style with an ornate hair comb. However, they were surprised that Skullak wasn't with her.

"Hey Cirucci," Nel said. "Where's Skullak? You're normally dragging him around with you on a leash."

"Oh, I decided to give him some free-time," Cirucci said. "He's either at the arcade or in the bookstore."

"Why did you give a perfectly good pack mule time off?" Nel asked.

"Well, let's just say that I want to surprise him for our anniversary," Cirucci said with a wink.

"Oh, that's coming up," Nel said. "So, what did you get him?"

"That's private information."

"Aw, come on," Harribel said. "Tell us."

"Yeah," Nel said. "I invoke the BFF Code for you to show us what you got Skullak."

"Tch…must you bring up the BFF Code?"

"Yes."

"Fine," Cirucci said as she put her bags down.

"Ten bucks says that it's a sexy corset with matching panties," Nel whispered to Harribel who blushed.

"Don't tell Skullak I got him this," she said.

Nel looked excited until she saw that Cirucci was holding a t-shirt with the Decepticon emblem and a wallet with the same symbol.

"You're kidding," Nel said.

"Oh come on," Cirucci said, smiling. "What did you think I was getting?"

"I don't know about Harribel. But I was thinking some sexy outfit to wear while doing a little dance for him."

"Sorry, but I only do that on his birthday," Cirucci said, smirking.

"Why are we even talking about this?" Harribel asked. "It's so…embarrassing."

"Ooh, I think we may have struck a nerve," Cirucci said. "I bet you thought of doing that for Starrk."

"N-no," Harribel said, blushing.

"Aw, I think you're keeping secrets," Nel said. "But that's alright. Every girl is entitled to their little secrets…especially with what they want to do with the boys they like."

"Come on," Harribel said, blushing, while Cirucci and Nel giggled.

That was when she noticed a familiar student leading a line of all-too-familiar looking students behind him. They were all dressed in suits for some reason that she couldn't fathom. When Nel and Cirucci saw what Harribel was looking at they were also confused.

"What's Lord Tight-Ass doing here?" Cirucci asked.

"Not to mention with what must be all of his clones following him," Nel said.

They watched as Rudobon and his Exequias were walking in a straight line and in-step with each other in the direction that the karaoke bar was in.

"Those guys still give me the creeps," Harribel said.

"HEY! OVER HERE!" Cirucci shouted, waving.

They turned and saw Skullak approaching them. He had a small Barnes & Noble bag in one hand and a stuffed bear in his other hand. Cirucci let out a squeal of delight and rushed to him.

"Whoa," Skullak said. "Why are you so excited?"

"Aw, it's so cute. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"I didn't know you like Barnes & Noble bags."

"Oh hush you," Cirucci said. "You know what I'm talking about."

"Oh, you must mean this," he said and held up the stuffed bear. "You see, I won this at the arcade and I just don't know what to do with him. He looks so sad and lonely. I was thinking that Starrk's little sister might make him feel better."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes, but then I thought that Lilynette would probably beat him up if he didn't wake up, like her poor brother. I tried thinking of any number of people who might want this little bear and make him happy, but, there was only one who I could think of and that's…" He looked at the bear and nearly held it out to Nel before handing it to Cirucci. "…you." Cirucci smiled as she took the stuffed animal. "You see, he looks much happier already."

"Aw, so cute," Nel said.

"Well, looks like more of the gang's here," Skullak said and gestured to Starrk who was talking with Ichigo and Rukia. "Hmm, I'm surprised that Starrk looks more than half-way awake."

Harribel looked at Starrk and felt her heart skip a beat. She liked the way he wasn't so formal with how he dressed. He was the type of person who knew what they liked and didn't care about what others thought. She liked that about him. He was completely different from her ex. Where her ex was vain and domineering, Starrk was honest and kind.

_Why don't we? Why don't we just become a couple? I know that's what I want,_ Harribel thought.

_**Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez**_

Grimmjow parked in one of the open spots while Ulquiorra parked his car in another spot. He watched as Ulquiorra made sure that he pulled in as straight as he could and he was parked directly in the center of the spot. He shook his head. This was just one of the many reasons why Ulquiorra rubbed him the wrong way.

"Hey, you do realize that it doesn't matter how straight you park, right?" Grimmjow shouted. "All that matters is that you stay in one space and you can get in and out of your car and that you're not one of those assholes who parks so close to the car next to you that the person can't even get in."

"I do not remember asking you for advice, Sir Muffin," Ulquiorra said as he got out of his car.

Orihime put a hand to her mouth to stifle the laughter that threatened to escape. Grimmjow didn't know what to make of the girl. She was like Nel in some ways, but in other ways she was completely different. She lacked Nel's spontaneity and the mean-streak that caused Grimmjow to realize that he liked Nel. However, they both had that flighty personality, but at least Nel wasn't too flighty.

"Come along," Ulquiorra said. "We better get going. We must not be late."

"How can we be late when we're early?" Grimmjow asked.

Ulquiorra looked stunned at the question. He looked at Grimmjow, but his face remained as expressionless as ever.

"I must say that I am quite surprised that your mind could actually formulate a decent question."

"Wow, do I get a gold star?" Grimmjow asked, rolling his eyes.

"No," Orihime said. "But you get a pat on the back," she said as she proceeded to do that.

"Aw, and here I wanted to get a gold star. I never got one in kindergarten."

"That comes as no surprise," Ulquiorra said.

"Oh shut up, Bat-Ass," Grimmjow snarled. "At least I wasn't farting out gold stars out of my ass like you were."

"How vulgar," Ulquiorra said. "Come along, Miss Inoue, there is no need for you to listen to his nonsense."

"But he's so funny," Orihime said. "Can't we keep him?"

"What do I look like, a lost cat?" Grimmjow asked, flabbergasted.

_**Rudobon Chelute**_

"Alright, Exequias," Rudobon said. "I want us to be in fine voice for when _it_ comes. Now, when we go in, we'll march to the room reserved for us. Now, I have already printed-out the list of songs we'll do for this weekend's session. We'll start off with 'Mr. Sandman' by the Chordettes and work our way into Diana Ross and the Supremes. Are there any questions?"

"I have one," the short, fat Exequias said.

"What is it, Lieutenant?"

"Why are we doing older songs, sir? One would expect something more modern would help us with our vocal exercises."

"This is true, Lieutenant," Rudobon said. "However, we need to focus on our range, endurance, and harmony. Then we can focus on overall volume. Now, are there any more questions?"

"Yes sir," one of the abnormally normal Exequias said. "What is this 'it' that you speak of?"

"I am talking about the talent competition that is coming up," Rudobon said. "We have stiff competition. I understand that the Xcution Theater Group is entering this year. I want to make sure that Las Noches High takes the top prize. We must do this for Principal Luisenbarn's honor."

The other Exequias nodded in agreement, but then the Lieutenant stopped.

"Then…why are we wearing suits?"

"We are wearing suits because I ordered you to wear suits," Rudobon said.

"Oh," the Exequias Lieutenant said, clearly satisfied with the answer.

"Excellent," Rudobon said.

"Well, this is a surprise," Skullak said as he approached Rudobon. "I didn't know that karaoke was in the Exequias' training program."

"Only when it comes to talent competitions, Skullak," Rudobon said. "One of my requirements for joining the Exequias was that they had to have an excellent singing voice. I was very fortunate to find such a group."

"I see," Skullak said.

"What brings you here?" Rudobon asked.

"Oh, I'm just here to have a good time."

"Humph, I thought that you would understand the value of time. There's no real purpose in doing something just for fun," Rudobon said.

"Well, there you and I must disagree," Rudobon said.

"Indeed. However, I can tell that you have some other motivation."

"Aw, Rudobon, you hurt me. What makes you think I have something up my sleeve?"

"I can tell. However, since it is nothing malicious, I will not interfere."

"Thank you."

"Then I shall most likely see you at school on Monday."

Skullak smiled and nodded as he made his way towards his own group. He was not surprised to see Starrk and Harribel talking with each other. Grimmjow and Nel were busy playing elbow wars to determine how many of Nel's bags each one would carry. Judging by where the bags were, it looked as though Nel was winning. Orihime was talking with Rukia, occasionally bursting out in giggles, about something while Ichigo and Ulquiorra were just standing around.

"So, why is he here?" Cirucci asked.

"He and the Exequias are entering the inter-school's talent competition this year. He wants to get them ready for it."

"Why?"

"He wants to win it for Las Noches High," Skullak said.

"He really needs to get a life."

"I don't know. I kind of want to hear them sing 'Baby Love'. I bet they would be really good at it."

"Hush you," Cirucci said and hit him on the arm. "Now, is our little plan still on?"

"Oh it's still on," Skullak said, smiling. "We're going to have a lovely Karaoke War. Well, those who _can_ sing are going to have a Karaoke War. Those who can't…"

"Aw, you have a nice singing voice, but it's not good enough to win a Karaoke War."

"That's exactly what I mean. It'll be more of a 'Kill-me-now' struggle," Skullak said and laughed.

"Now you're being over-dramatic."

_**Coyote Starrk**_

"Well, I would have to say that one of my favorite bands is Three Days Grace," Starrk said.

"I've listened to some of their music," Harribel said. "But I would have to say that my favorite group is Evanescence."

"Now, I would have thought that your favorite band would have been Within Temptation."

"I've never heard of them."

"Oh, they're really good. If they have any Within Temptation on the karaoke machine, I'll be sure to demonstrate one of their songs. But, keep in mind, they sing it a lot better than I can."

"That's just the nerves talking," Harribel said. "It might turn out that you have a good voice."

"I highly doubt that."

"AGH!" Grimmjow cried out.

"YES! I WIN AGAIN! That's now fifteen bags that you have to carry for me."

"I give up, Nel."

"Aw come on. You might actually win one, or you get to carry another one of my bags."

"Nel, you always beat me. I don't even know how that's possible. I'm supposed to be the elbow war champ."

"Aw, I'm sorry. I'll let you win one."

"Nah, it's alright," Grimmjow said. "I'll just carry all the bags in exchange that you don't tell anyone I couldn't win a round of elbow war against you."

"I'll tell you what," Nel said. "If we do end up in a Karaoke War, and if we win, I'll carry half my bags and you carry the other half. Does that sound fair?"

"Nel, you got yourself a deal."

"What do you think that was all about?" Harribel asked.

"It sounds like Grimmjow wasn't doing too well playing elbow wars against Nel. I knew that I should have warned him not to get into playing elbow war or thumb war or any kind of war with Nel," Starrk said.

_**Ulquiorra Schiffer**_

Ulquiorra sat next to a wall of shopping bags. The sound-proof room was large enough to accommodate their group. The table in the room had nothing on it except for menus that they could order sandwiches and snacks and drinks from. There was a telephone on the wall that they could use to call in their orders. The seats were comfortable. However, Ulquiorra had no idea how he got stuck sitting next to the girls' shopping bags.

"How are you holding up, Ulquiorra?" Orihime asked.

"I feel as though I am about to have an entire store fall on me," Ulquiorra said.

"You're exaggerating."

Ulquiorra sighed and looked at the shopping bags. He just couldn't understand how girls could buy so much stuff at once. There were bags from shoe stores and more from clothing stores and he looked away when he saw a bag from Victoria's Secret.

_How do they even carry all of these bags? They must secretly have a lot more than just two hands,_ he thought.

"Alright," Skullak said. "I want to welcome to our first ever karaoke war. Here's how it goes. There will be four teams of two since Cirucci and I will be in charge of keeping track of everyone's scores. Each team will have to sing two solos and one duet. The solo will be chosen by each partner for the other while the duets...will be kept as a surprise."

"I bet he'll just put the song choice on random for that one," Grimmjow said.

"At the end, the team with the highest score wins and gets…bragging rights."

"Ooh, I like bragging rights," Nel said, rubbing her hands.

"Anyways, before we start, let's order some food and beverages," Skullak said.

"Sounds good," Ichigo said.

_**Nelliel Tu Odelschwank**_

Nel took a bite out of her tuna salad sandwich while looking at the list of songs on the karaoke machine. She was trying to figure out what kind of music Grimmjow would like. He didn't strike her as the type who was into classic rock. She looked over and saw that he was having a hard time as well trying to find what song to give her.

"I told you that I am not going to participate," Ulquiorra said.

"Aw, come on," Orihime said. "I think that Lady Gaga would suit you."

She saw that Grimmjow was having a hard time not laughing.

_Hmm, maybe I should have Grimmy sing Lady Gaga,_ she thought. _But then again, if I did that we might not win. And I want to win._

Nel was like Grimmjow in that they were both competitive. However, where Grimmjow reserved his competitive nature to sports, Nel's competitive nature came out in any kind of competition. She looked over at Rukia and Ichigo who were leaning over a list of the songs available. She noticed that their fingers were rubbing against each other's hands.

"Agh, I give up," Grimmjow said as he plopped into the seat next to her.

"What are you talking about?"

"I was trying to find the right song for you to sing, and I couldn't find it."

"Well, I found the right one for you."

"Please tell me it's not Lady Gaga."

"It's Lady Gaga."

"Shit."

"Oh, were you hoping for something else?"

"Yeah," Grimmjow said. "I don't like Lady Gaga. I'm more into The Exies or Disturbed."

"Huh, I happen to like Lady Gaga. So, you'll have to sing Lady Gaga for me."

"Alright, but in exchange you'll have to sing 'My Ordinary World' by The Exies."

"You've got yourself a deal."

"Alright," Skullak said. "Have you all chosen your songs for each other?"

"I shall not participate," Ulquiorra said. "I was dragged here against my will and so I do not have to participate."

"Oh but you do," Skullak said, grinning. "Perhaps you would like for everyone to know about your little secret?"

Ulquiorra paled even more, a feat that Grimmjow thought impossible.

"You wouldn't."

"Ulqui, I'm serious," Skullak said. "Besides, you know that you wanted to come in the first place. That's why you came."

"Are you serious?" Ulquiorra asked. "Are you seriously using Psychology to get me…to make a fool of myself?"

"Uh…yeah," Skullak said. "I guess it didn't work."

"Come on, Ulqui," Orihime said. "You're with friends. I'm sure that no one will post a video of you doing karaoke on YouTube."

Ulquiorra looked over at Nel and Grimmjow. The smiles on their faces were not reassuring.

"I suppose I have no other option, except…"

"Don't even think about it," Cirucci said as she stepped in front of the door. "Making a fool of yourself in front of us might be a good thing for you. After all, you need to learn how to just relax."

"Yeah, all work and no play makes Ulqui a dull bat," Grimmjow said, grinning.

"Yes, and all play and no work make Grimmjow a loser kitty," Ulquiorra said.

"You see, Ulqui. You do have fun," Nel said.

"Yeah, whenever he tries to make fun of me," Grimmjow said.

"Oh stop arguing," Starrk sighed. "You do the same thing."

"Whoa, you're still up," Grimmjow said, startled.

"Well, Bel and I got done with making our choices, so I decided to try to take a nap. Unfortunately, I couldn't fall asleep."

"That's probably for the best," Nel said. "Otherwise we might never get you to wake up."

"You could always get Lilynette. She's probably at the park by now playing soccer with your little sister, Ichigo," Starrk said and yawned.

"Stop that," Harribel said. "We won't win this war if you're going to keep yawning."

"Oh…sorry," Starrk said and then yawned again.

"You're hopeless," Harribel said, shaking her head. However, she was slightly smiling.

"Alright," Skullak said. "Here's the order that we'll go in. First up will be Orihime and Ulquiorra. Second will be Rukia and Ichigo. Third will be Nelliel and Grimm-Kitty."

"Don't call me Grimm-Kitty and I won't call you Tuna Skull."

"Ouch," Skullak said, wincing. "And here I hoped that you forgot that old nickname you gave me. Anyways, that means that Harribel and Starrkey will be the last group. So, let's start this war. The rules are simple. Sing the song and then Cirucci and I will pick a song for each duet. The point values are based on how well you sing the song and how well you do on the lyrics. The lyrics will be up on that nice big flat-screen TV behind you and you can look at it to get your bearings. Now, should we let the girls take the floor first or the guys?"

It was decided that the guys would go first since it was agreed that they would most likely have the worst voices since they were hitting puberty. Nel was taking bets on which of the boys would be the worst. So far, Starrk was the favorite to win that title since he was continually yawning. Although it was difficult to say just how awful they would be since no one had heard the other sing. The girls had a fairly good idea of how well each other could sing. Rukia and Orihime would sometimes have sleep-overs and one of their favorite evening rituals was singing into their hairbrushes and the same was true with Nel and Harribel.

Skullak took a sip of his orange soda before accessing the database. The television screen on the wall went from black to blue. The words "WELCOME TO KARAKURA KARAOKE" appeared on the screen in gold letters. The screen faded and the image of an auditorium appeared.

"Alright," Skullak said. "Let the Karaoke Wars begin."

_**Rudobon Chelute**_

"Alright, Numbers 8 and 10, you went off-key on the chorus," Rudobon said. "Number 5, you're supposed to only do the 'Bum-bum-ba-ba-bum' at the opening and then Number 8 is supposed to go into the first verse, and it's 'When the night' slight pause 'has come'. It's not 'When the night has come'. Alright, let's try this again."

Rudobon entered the code for "Stand by Me" and counted-down before the music started. When the music started, Rudobon signaled the Exequias to begin.

"Bum-bum-ba-ba-bum-bum-ba-ba-bum," The Exequias sang in unison.

"When the night…has come,

"And the land is dark…"

_**Ulquiorra Schiffer**_

Ulquiorra just wanted to get this over with. He still couldn't understand how he got into this. One moment he was at home, working on his homework like the good student he was. The next, his little sister, Selena, was shoving him out the door and telling him to have a good time.

_She and Orihime must have been plotting behind my back,_ he though.

"Alright, Ulquiorra," Skullak said, "the song that Orihime picked out for you is 'Marry the Night' by Lady Gaga."

"Too bad he isn't wearing the outrageous outfits," Grimmjow said. "I would never let him forget it."

"I know you wouldn't. Just keep in my mind we have to win."

"Uh…why?"

"Well, if we don't win because of you then I won't go out with you."

"Oh come on," Grimmjow said. "Why are you threatening me like that?"

"Oh, it's pretty obvious," Nel said, smiling. "Now hush, Ulqui's about to start."

As the music started, Ulquiorra sighed and brought the microphone close to his mouth. He just wanted to get this over with. At first, Ulquiorra was hesitant about singing the lyrics. He would pause or skip over sections, he hoped that he wouldn't have to go again. And so, by the time the last lyrics rolled by on the screen he was not surprised to see a score of 35 points.

"Can I sit down?" Ulquiorra asked.

"Oh no," Skullak said. "You didn't do it right. You're supposed to sing the song chosen by your partner. You…didn't sing."

"Yeah, you just stood there and mumbled," Orihime said. "You have to go again and we won't let you step down until you sing it right."

Grimmjow was snickering a little. Ulquiorra sighed.

"Then please demonstrate, Miss Inoue," Ulquiorra said.

"With pleasure," Orihime said. "DJ, hit it," she said as she yanked the microphone from Ulquiorra's hand and struck a pose.

"Do you want the same song or do you want to do the one that Ulquiorra picked for you?"

"Ulquiorra's pick," Orihime said. "We can have him go again during the second round. That way he can just relax."

"What do you think Cirucci?"

"She has a point. But the chances of Ulquiorra relaxing are about the same as anyone from _Jersey Shore_ actually making sense."

"Ouch, not good odds then," Skullak said.

"Did you know that every time a person watches that show a few hundred of their brain cells commit suicide?" Harribel asked. "At least that's what my Aunt Yoruichi says."

"I'm sure that medical research will back that up," Skullak said. "Anyways, back to the matter at hand. Orihime, Ulquiorra's pick for you is…Frank Sinatra? Ulquiorra, why did you pick Frank Sinatra?"

"It is because I did not wish to see Miss Inoue perform something as trashy as Lady Gaga or Rihanna or…God forbid…Britney Spears."

"Ah, a matter of taste then," Skullak said. "Although I highly doubt anyone cares about Britney Spears anymore."

"Yes," Ulquiorra agreed. "However, Frank Sinatra is forever."

"I guess we know who Ulquiorra's favorite artist is," Ichigo said.

"Actually, he does have one dirty little secret about his taste in music," Orihime said. "He likes Linkin Park."

All eyes turned to Ulquiorra who swallowed and nodded. Grimmjow burst out into applause.

"OH MAN!" he shouted. "That's a relief. And here I thought that you only liked dead people for artists or that depressing moody Goth music from the likes of Marilyn Manson or Nox Arcana."

"He likes Nox Arcana too," Orihime put in.

"Well that doesn't surprise me one bit," Grimmjow said. "Now if you told me he liked Ke$ha, then that would surprise me."

"I LOVE KE$HA!" Orihime shouted.

Ulquiorra only shook his head and sat down.

"Okay, let's see. Ulquiorra picked 'Nothing But the Best' by Frank Sinatra. Are you ready, Orihime?" Skullak asked.

"Sure," Orihime said. "I'm a little bit nervous though."

"Just relax and let the music flow through you," Cirucci said. "Just remember, you're just having fun…and fighting for bragging rights."

"Yeah, no pressure," Rukia said.

Orihime took a deep breath as the countdown began. However, as soon as the first trumpet blast filled the room, Orihime became someone different. She didn't just sing the lyrics she imbued them with her own personality. She allowed her body to move with the music. Ulquiorra found that he couldn't breathe. When Orihime finished, the room filled with applause and a score of 245 out of 300 popped up on the screen.

"WAY TO GO, ORIHIME!" Rukia shouted.

"You see, Sour Bat, that's how you do it," Grimmjow said.

"I…suppose," Ulquiorra said after he managed to pull himself together. "Miss Inoue, I must admit that I am impressed."

"Aw, thanks Ulqui," Orihime said and hugged him. "I had no idea those old songs could be fun to perform."

"That is why they never die," Ulquiorra said, trying to hide his blushing face from Grimmjow.

"We're off to a good start," Cirucci said.

"Alright, since Orihime was the first one to actually sing competitively, I think we should let the other ladies go first," Skullak said.

"I agree," Grimmjow said. "They're more used to this than us."

"What, you mean you've never sung in the shower or while driving in your car before?" Nel asked.

"Well, sure," Ichigo said. "But we don't sing in front of each other. We might get stage fright."

"Did you really have to put it that way?" Starrk asked.

"Alright then, the girls will do their songs first and then we'll move on to the guys," Skullak said as he consulted the sheets of paper with the chosen songs. "The next contestant is…Miss Rukia Kuchiki singing 'Don't Stop the Music' by Rihanna."

"Hey Strawberry, I guess you really like your girlfriend singing those kinds of songs to you," Grimmjow said and began laughing.

"Well, she does like Rihanna," Ichigo said, shrugging.

Rukia gave a rather masterful performance of "Don't Stop the Music" that left the guys, except for Starrk who was taking a nap with Harribel trying to resist stroking his hair, red-faced. She received an overall score of 267 out of 300. Nel was determined not to be outdone. She leaned over to Grimmjow and was annoyed at the expression on his extremely flushed face.

"You better put your eyes back in your head," she said. "And put your tongue back in your mouth before you trip over it."

"Huh…oh…sorry," Grimmjow said giving himself a shake.

"Boys," Nel said and sighed.

"Alright, our next contestant is Nel Tu," Skullak said.

"I can't believe you still remember that," Nel said.

"Are you kidding? It's how you introduced yourself to me and Starrk. You had difficulty saying your full name back then." Nel chuckled at that. "Anyways, you'll be singing 'All About Us' by t.A.T.u."

"Aw, you mean you didn't give me anything by Lady Gaga or Katy Perry? I was really hoping for 'Teenage Dream' since I love that song."

"Alright, alright, sorry," Grimmjow said. "Hey Skullak, can I change it to 'Teenage Dream'?"

"Well, she hadn't started," Skullak said. "I don't see why not."

He consulted the list to get the code number to enter. Nel smiled at Grimmjow as she picked up the microphone. She gave her jean skirt a little tug to straighten it out. She took a sip of her Coca-Cola and cleared her throat.

"Alright, whenever you're ready," Cirucci said.

"Oh, I'm ready," Nel said smiling. "HEY STARRKEY! YOU BETTER GET UP! BEL'S NEXT!"

Starrk fell out of his seat, startled by Nel shouting at him.

"Nel, did you really have to yell so loud?" Starrk asked.

"How else would I get you to wake up?"

"She does have a point there," Harribel said, rubbing Starrk's back.

"Oh-ho-ho, getting a little lovey-dovey there, aren't you?" Rukia asked.

"Huh?" Starrk asked and then noticed Harribel's hand on his back. His face went bright red. "Uh…Bel, what are you doing?"

"Oh…uh…nothing," Harribel muttered as she took her hand off Starrk's back.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road," Skullak said as he pressed ENTER.

If Grimmjow felt that Rukia's performance was succulent, it was nothing compared to Nel's. Nel's performance seemed intimate and directed towards him. He could feel something more than mere lust rise to the surface of his soul. It was as though he was seeing someone with whom he could spend the rest of his life with.

_Is this love?_

He thought that it was.

Skullak looked at Grimmjow and smiled.

"Cirucci, darling, I think he's officially into her," he whispered.

"That still doesn't mean they're a couple, though," Cirucci said.

"Well, they might as well be."

When Nel finished with a score of 287 out of 300, she gave a bow while the others applauded. Grimmjow let out a few wolf whistles as well. She took her seat next to Harribel.

"Alright, now it's your turn," she whispered.

"I…I don't know," Harribel said. "What if I mess up?"

"Stop worrying and just sing from the heart," Nel said. "That's what I did. Besides, I'm sure that Starrk will not think badly of you."

"Thanks," Harribel said as she got up.

"The last girl singing is Tia Harribel. Let's see what Starrkey picked out for you to sing," Skullak said as he consulted his notes, "is 'Bring Me to Life' by Evanescence."

Harribel smiled. She remembered telling Starrk that "Bring Me to Life" was one of her favorite songs since she felt as though it really spoke to her. By choosing that song for her to sing, Starrk had demonstrated that he had been listening to her.

"Are you ready?" Cirucci asked.

"Yeah," Harribel said after taking a deep breath.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Nel said.

Harribel nodded and looked at Starrk who gave a slight smile to her. She felt at ease. As she sang she was glad that Starrk hadn't picked her other favorite Evanescence song, "My Immortal". Otherwise she probably wouldn't have been able to sing. Starrk must have known that the sadder songs always made her to just want to cry. When she finished she saw that her score was 270.

"You did great," Starrk said.

"Yeah, but I didn't beat Nel."

"So? At least you had fun up there."

Harribel looked at Starrk and saw that he was serious. She smiled and started chuckling. She knew that Starrk wasn't very competitive, but somehow she forgot that. She probably thought that her ex was there, and he was competitive to the point that he would yell at her if she did something that put any chances of a win in jeopardy. She was glad that neither her ex nor any of his buddies were around.

"Uh…did I say something funny?" Starrk asked.

"Oh no," Harribel said.

"Alright," Skullak said. "That's it for the girls. Now, it's the guy's turn. Ulquiorra, you're up…again. This time, do it right."

It was agreed, by both the machine and the others, that the guys didn't fare as well as the girls. That came as no surprise to anyone.

On Ulquiorra's second attempt to sing Lady Gaga's "Marry the Night", he had loosened up enough to score 180 points. Ulquiorra was not surprised.

"You might as well face it," he said. "I am not good with these…frivolous activities."

"What, you don't like having a good time?" Grimmjow asked. "Sheesh, I bet you think that waxing your bat wings is your idea of a good time. Or would you consider drinking blood from animals your idea of a good time?"

"Hush you," Nel said and whacked Grimmjow across the back of his head. "Don't make me change my selection for you to something by Katy Perry or Lady Gaga."

"Alright, alright," Grimmjow said. "Strawberry, I guess you're up next."

"Yeah, and then you're after me, Mr. Eager-Beaver."

"What are you talking about?"

"Starrk told me about how you're always the first to arrive to school."

"WHAT? STARRK! TRAITOR! HOW COULD YOU?"

"Agh, stop yelling," Starrk said. "You're giving me a headache. Besides, I'm sure that my little sister already told his little sister about it. He would have found out eventually one way or another."

"But that didn't mean you had to tell him yourself," Grimmjow said.

"Perhaps a bag of catnip will help you," Ulquiorra said.

"Oh shut up and fly to your little cave to sleep upside-down, hanging from the ceiling," Grimmjow said.

"If only I could," Ulquiorra said.

"That's enough arguing," Skullak said. "Ichigo, you're up, and Rukia gave you 'Hero' by Skillet."

"SWEET!" Ichigo said. "Now, I'm going to demonstrate how a real man sings."

"Oh God, everyone cover your ears," Grimmjow said. "He's about to sing us his Sirens' Song that will make us want to crash against the rocks just so that we don't have to hear it anymore."

"I think you are confused," Ulquiorra said. "The Sirens' Song lured men to their deaths. I believe that the creature you want is the one that I would use to describe your own yowling, the Banshee."

"Oh shut up, Count Ulquila. At least I don't squeak like a bat like you do."

"Aw, Grimmy's just jealous because he can't sing as well as I can," Ichigo said. "Alright let's get this started. I'm gonna be the first one to win 300 points."

Ichigo only got 170 points.

Grimmjow laughed so hard at that one. Ichigo only looked confused and then laughed as well.

"Oh man, what…what a bad…a…a…HA-HA-HA-YA-HA-HA!"

"I think what Sir Blueberry Muffin is trying to say," Ulquiorra said. "Is that it was a bad time for your voice to decide to crack."

"Damn puberty," Ichigo snarled. "I can't wait for it to be over."

"And here you were bragging about how you would be the first one to get a perfect score," Rukia said, shaking her head.

"Alright, Grimmjow," Skullak said. "You're up next. Nel gave you 'These Are the Days' by The Exies. You should be pleased that she gave you one of your favorite bands."

"HELL YEAH!" Grimmjow shouted. "Now I'm gonna show you how this is done."

Grimmjow succeeded in getting 230 points. That meant that he and Nel were way ahead of everyone else with 517 points. Ichigo and Rukia had 437 points and Ulquiorra and Orihime had 425. Harribel was a little bit nervous since she got 270 points and Starrk looked as though he was about to fall asleep again.

"HEY!" Grimmjow cried out. "DO YOU THINK YOU CAN STAY AWAKE, WOLFEY?"

"I'll take my nap after this number," Starrk said.

Grimmjow burst out laughing at that.

"Ten bucks says he falls asleep halfway through," he said.

"Oh…do you doubt Starrkey's ability to stay awake?" Nel asked. "You do realize who's in the room," she said and glanced over at Harribel who was looking at Starrk getting ready.

"Oh…that's right," Grimmjow said and leaned back in his chair as he took a bag of potato chips.

"Alright, Starrkey, Harribel decided that she wants to hear you sing 'Never Too Late' by Three Days Grace."

"Well, let's get this over with," Starrk said, rubbing his head.

He looked at the microphone and then at Harribel. He wondered why she looked so nervous. As far as he was concerned this was only for fun.

_Maybe she's taking this seriously,_ he thought. _If that's the case, then I'll do my best. I really don't want to hurt her by not trying._

Starrk's singing wasn't as good as Grimmjow's, but there was a sense of honesty in it. Whenever he sang "It's not too late; It's never too late" Harribel felt as though he was singing to her. She didn't understand why she felt nervous. He wasn't like her ex, but perhaps she had just been too afraid that she would be trapped by the past.

_This is it,_ she thought. _I just need to let go of the past and walk in the now._

When Starrk finished he made his way to Harribel. He saw that she was relaxed now and that was the only thing he cared about. He didn't care that he got 210 points. He only cared that Harribel was not so tense.

"Well, I did what I could," he said.

"I know," she said and put her hand on his. "Thank you."

Starrk was a little startled at that but decided not to pursue it.

"Alright," Skullak said. "We now have the duets to do and then we can just enjoy the rest of our time. Now then…"

Suddenly, the sound of amusement park music came on over the sound systems. They saw a message scrawling across the screen. "PERFECT SCORE! PERFECT SCORE! PERFECT SCORE!"

They all wondered what that was about when suddenly the screen switched over to show a silver-haired man with his eyes shut and a foxy grin on his face.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry to interrupt your time. My name is Gin Ichimaru, assistant manager of Karakura Karaoke. It is my pleasure to announce that we have someone who achieved a perfect 300 points on their Karaoke performance. They will be presented with the cash prize that we at Karakura Karaoke sets aside for anyone who achieves a perfect 300 points. Now, it is my pleasure to introduce…Rudobon Chelute and the Exequias."

"NO WAY!" all of the Las Noches High students in the room shouted as they saw Rudobon and the Exequias, all dressed up in their suits, standing in attention as they received the cash prize.

_**Lilynette Gingerback**_

Lilynette drank another glass of her sports drink.

"Oh man, it's such a shame that you don't go to our school," Karin said. "The way you scored that last goal was incredible. We could definitely use someone like you on our team."

"It's nothing," Lilynette said. "Uncle Dordoni's really into soccer and he got me hooked on it. I'm thinking about trying out for our soccer team when try-outs begin."

"Aw, but then we'll have to fight each other."

"Well, don't you think that would be fun?"

"I guess so," Karin said and the two started laughing as a horn began honking from outside.

"Whoa, it's already 3:00? Sorry, Karin, but I've gotta go. My brother gets cranky if he misses out on his sixteen hours of sleep."

"No problem," Karin said. "I'll see you."

"You know it," Lilynette said as she grabbed her bag.

She got outside and saw Ichigo's car pulling into the drive-up while her brother's was still idling outside with Harribel's car behind it. She saw that Starrk and Harribel were talking about something. She shook her head.

"Hey, Lilynette," Ichigo said. "It's good to see you again. Did you and my little sisters have a good time?"

"Well, Yuzu was busy doing house stuff. But Karin and I had a wonderful time playing soccer with some of her friends. Did you have a good time with karaoke?"

"Well…" Ichigo said and looked sad.

"He's just upset that we can in last," Rukia said. "I thought for sure we had the duet in the bag, but then this guy kept messing up his parts. I mean, come on, it was 'Every Breath You Take' by The Police. Orihime and Ulquiorra got 'Twilight Time' by The Platters and they beat us."

"So, who won?"

"Grimmjow and Nel," Rukia said. "It actually came close between them and your brother and Harribel. Skullak and Cirucci got to pick the last songs, but the team had to agree on it or else it would go to a random decision."

"Ah," Lilynette said. "So, what were the songs?"

"Grimm and Nel got 'Nights in White Satin' by The Moody Blues. I'll tell you what, while they were singing it, I thought that they were going to just stop and kiss each other when they came to the 'I Love You' bits. I think that Cirucci and Skullak were hoping they would."

"Oh, is that a fact," Lilynette asked, grinning. "I'll have to keep that in mind. And what did my brother and Harribel get?"

"They got 'If Everyone Cared' by Nickelback," Rukia said. "They did the best on the duets, but the strange thing is that it was as though they were only singing to each other. I wouldn't be surprised if they're making arrangements for their first actual date," Rukia said and looked to where Starrk and Harribel were still talking.

_**Skullak Tuma**_

Skullak hummed as he and Cirucci drove. He smiled a little.

"Cirucci, I think we may have succeeded."

"What makes you think that?"

"Come on. You didn't feel it?"

"Well, I thought I felt sparks in the air, especially during the duets."

"Findor would say, 'Exacta.' Nel and Grimmjow were very close to just abandoning their reason and kiss each other right there. Starrk and Harribel…I don't really need to tell you about that."

"Nope, I guess you don't. But, they didn't make anything official right then and there."

"That doesn't mean that we didn't give them the push that they needed. Although, who would have thought that Rudobon and the Exequias would be such excellent singers?"

_**Coyote Starrk**_

Starrk walked into his room and looked at the sheet of paper with the plans he and Harribel made for next weekend. They agreed that they would see the premier of the first film adaptation of _Moonlit Dreams_. He had been surprised to find out that she was also a fan of the manga series about vampires living among humans in a small mountain community.

He put his hand into his pocket and brought out the small case that Rukia gave him. He opened it and took out the pocket watch. He admired the wolf engraving on the front. The weight of the watch in his hand made him feel comfortable. He was holding something that belonged to his father. He closed the case and put it on the nightstand and put the watch on top of the case.

"Hey Starrk," Lilynette said as she walked in.

"Hey," Starrk said. "What is it?"

"Well, I was just curious about something."

"What is it?"

"Are you and Bel going to start dating?"

"You're not going to turn into Uncle Dordoni are you?"

"No. I'm just curious. I mean, I can tell that you like her and she likes you. I just…I just think that you should. She's not like your ex. She's…nice."

"She is," Starrk said. "And I know she won't hurt you. It's just that…"

"You really shouldn't be scared. Or…is she the one afraid?"

Starrk sighed. He could tell that Harribel wasn't telling him something and she could tell that he was doing the same. He wasn't sure if they could build a relationship. He somehow knew that they were both damaged in some way.

_**Yoruichi Shihoin**_

Yoruichi was sitting at the table when Harribel came in.

"I'm back," Harribel said.

"Oh, did you have a good time?" Yoruichi asked.

"Yeah, I did," Harribel said. "Aunt Yoruichi, I've come to a decision."

"Oh, and what decision might this be? And why are you telling me about this before telling your mother."

"I already called her," Harribel said.

"That's good. So, what's this decision that you've made?"

"I'm going to ask Starrk to be my boyfriend. I want us to become official."

Yoruichi smiled and gestured for her to take a seat. Harribel sat down and looked at her Aunt.

"So does that mean that you told him?"

"I haven't told him about _him_ yet. However, I will before I ask him."

"When I was your age, we girls always wanted the boy to ask us to become official first. You were like that."

"And look at what that got me," Harribel said. "But there's one thing I know. I love Starrk. Based on what you told me and what I've seen of him, he's not going to be like my ex."

"I know," Yoruichi said. "Has your mother given her approval?"

"She said she'll wait until she comes back from her trip and meets him. She tried to warn me about Henry Marceaux and I didn't listen."

"Wow, you actually said his name," Yoruichi said.

"I can't be afraid of my past. His name is the past. Besides, it's not like anyone else from my past is going to pop up at school and…Aunt Yoruichi, what is it? Is something wrong?" Harribel asked when she saw Yoruichi's face.

"I…I suppose you'll find out on Monday anyways," Yoruichi said. "I got a call from Principal Luisenbarn."

"Oh God, it's not about me, right?"

"That's the thing. It is. I asked the three Principals to let me know whenever someone from your old school decided to transfer here and…"

"If it's Henry, you have nothing to worry about. I'm through with him and he's through with me. We broke-up by mutual consent."

"Or so he says," Yoruichi whispered. "But no, Henry's not coming here. Baraggan's grand-nephew is."

Harribel went pale.

"No," she whispered.

"Yes," Yoruichi said and sighed. "Mordrath Luisenbarn is going to start classes at your school on Monday."

**End of Chapter 6**

**A.N.: I am now heading more into Starrk and Harribel's pasts and more secrets will be revealed as the chapter progress. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. **

**Thank you for reading and please review.**


	7. Chapter 7: Tryouts

**Life at Las Noches High**

**Chapter 7: Tryouts**

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

The cry filled the parking lot of Las Noches High on Monday morning as Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was, once again, the first to arrive.

"WHY? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?" he shouted to the heavens.

"Hey, kid, why are you shouting at the sky? Do you think that E.T. will hear you?"

"Oh…sorry, Mr. Rureaux," Grimmjow said after noticing the morning janitor.

"Eh, don't worry about it. So, what did you try this time?"

"Huh?"

"Last time you tried setting your alarm clock for later, but forgot about daylight's savings. So, what did you try this time?"

"You know. I can't even remember."

Zommari only shook his head as he continued sweeping the outside walkway. Grimmjow sighed and sat back in the driver's seat of his Jeep Pantera.

_Hmm, maybe I should start picking Nel up. Wait a minute. THAT'S GENIUS! Not only will it give me more time to be with Nel, but it'll also give me an opportunity to not be first._

He smiled at the idea. He watched as Rudobon arrived on foot with his pack of freakishly uniform Exequias with one shorter and fatter member travelling just behind him. He saw that they were carrying what appeared to be stacks of paper. He wondered what that was about, but decided that it was best not to get too involved.

He simply sat in his car and was about to doze off when he saw a car come rolling into the parking lot. It was black and so he thought that it must be Ulquiorra. Then he saw the crimson three-headed dragon painted on the hood with a vanity plate that read "FYR'N'BLD".

_That's not Lord Emo._

The car came to a stop and he watched as the door opened. Grimmjow could hear Nirvana's "Scentless Apprentice" coming from the car. He watched as the boy stepped out of the car. He was dressed in the regular school uniform, complete with the jacket buttoned up, but he also wore a tie-pin shaped like a dragon's head. His blonde hair was neatly combed back and his green eyes glittered as he looked at the school.

"Huh…new kid," Grimmjow muttered.

_**Harribel**_

Harribel looked at herself in the mirror. She found herself more nervous than she thought anyone could be. The last thing she really wanted to do was to come face-to-face with someone from her life before moving to Karakura. She sighed as she pulled on her uniform vest.

_I can't let it get to me,_ she thought. _Mordrath will probably not try anything. After all, he's only interested in people who can help him advance and I doubt he'll be very interested in using me again._

She smiled at the thought. Mordrath was the type of person who was only interested in people who could help him advance. He had used her to gain access to Henry Marceaux since Henry was one of the most popular students at her old school. Once she had served his purpose of gaining a foothold, Mordrath's attentions had gone completely to Henry. She had not known that about him until after she found out what kind of guy Henry was: a complete control freak. When she had tried to talk to Mordrath, whom she had thought was her friend, about it he had only smiled and walked away.

_Yeah, he won't be very interested in me anymore. I served my purpose to him and I highly doubt he'll try anything._

Besides, if he did try anything she knew that Starrk would be there. Her heart skipped a beat and she smiled as the picture of Starrk as a knight in shining armor protecting her from the dragon that was Mordrath Luisenbarn came into her mind.

_**Starrk**_

Tia Harribel's knight in shining armor let out a yawn as he finished packing his school books into his backpack.

"Hurry up," Lilynette said as she stood waiting at the front door. "Miss Ise doesn't like it when any of her students arrive late."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Starrk replied as he made sure his book report on _Of Mice and Men_ was packed.

He grabbed his lunch bag and slung his backpack over one shoulder. He put a hand in his pocket and took out his father's old pocket watch. His fingers traced the wolves on the cover and he smiled. The watch had belonged to his father and just holding it felt as though he was holding a piece of his father as well as the generations of Starrks who came before. He put the watch back into his pocket and walked out the door. He made sure the Lilynette locked it behind them and they got into his Cadillac.

"So, are you and Harribel starting to go out?" Lilynette asked as she reached to turn on the radio.

"What?"

"Oh come on. I know you were making plans with her to see that movie, _Moonlit Dreams_. So does that mean that you're officially a couple?"

Starrk couldn't answer because he really didn't know. He had thought of asking Harribel to be his girlfriend, but he was rather nervous about it. They had only known each other for about a week and yet he knew there was a connection between them. He wondered if perhaps things were going too fast and they should slow down.

"Well…I've only known her for more than a couple of weeks. I think…I think we should take things a little bit slower to get to know each other a bit more before deciding on that one."

"If you say so," Lilynette said as she flicked through the radio stations.

_**Rudobon**_

"I want you to post these flyers up throughout the school," Rudobon said as he addressed his loyal band of followers. "And I want you to make sure that they're on straight. I don't want to see a flyer that's tilting one degree off-center. Is that clear?"

"YES SIR!" the Exequias chorused.

"Then get to work, men."

The Exequias marched off and separated down the halls and up the stairs. Rudobon turned to his Lieutenant who was looking at one of the posters.

"So…it is time then?"

"Yes. The time has arrived."

"I am sure that the faculty is prepared to deal with whatever is to come."

"They are," Rudobon confirmed. "Come Lieutenant, we must make our own plans immediately."

"Yes sir," the short and rather fat Exequias said and marched just behind Rudobon.

_**Grimmjow**_

Grimmjow watched the new student with very little interest for a little bit. From what he could see the new kid was just another stuck-up, buttoned-up asshole like Ulqui-Bat. And he really didn't like that kind. So, he focused his attention back onto the parking lot in time to see Ulquiorra's Murciélago come pulling in.

"Well, looks as if Lord Kill-joy has arrived," Grimmjow whispered.

"Excuse me," someone said.

Grimmjow turned and saw the new kid looking at him. His cold green eyes seemed to burrow into Grimmjow and he felt a chill run down his spine.

"Uh…yeah?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but I'm new here and I was wondering if you would be so kind as to direct me to my grand-uncle's office."

"Your…"

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Mordrath Luisenbarn and you are…"

"Uh…Grimmjow," Grimmjow said as he took the offered hand. "So…uh…Luisenbarn…does that mean you're related to Principal Luisenbarn."

Mordrath smiled as he released his grip of Grimmjow's hand.

"It does. He informed me to go to his office before classes began to pick up my schedule."

"Oh…uh…well, sure, I'll help you get to his office. Just follow me."

Grimmjow grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He looked at Mordrath who was not using a backpack but a messenger bag with a dragon stitched at one corner.

"So…you like dragons."

"Yes," Mordrath answered as he followed Grimmjow. "I find them to be very…relatable creatures."

_Damn, what's with this guy? He sounds more stuck-up than Ulquiorra. And here I thought that was impossible,_ Grimmjow thought.

"Uh…how so?"

"That's easy. They don't take shit from anyone," Mordrath replied, his voice low. "And neither do I."

"Well, I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

Mordrath only nodded and seemed to look in all directions as if he was getting the lay of the land. Then he paused for a moment and his eyes narrowed.

"She's here?"

"Who are you…?" Then Grimmjow turned in the direction that Mordrath was looking at and saw Harribel getting out of her car. "Do you mean Harribel? Do you know her?"

Mordrath turned to look at Grimmjow and smiled a little.

"I did. I guess it really is a small world."

_**Harribel**_

Harribel paused when she saw the black car with the vanity plate. Her heart beat faster and faster. She knew to expect this but it was something to actually see a relic of her past come surfacing again like some kind of monster from the murky depths. Her anticipation grew as she looked around, but she could not see him.

_He's most likely inside by now,_ she thought. _I really hope I don't have any classes with him._

"Hey, what's happenin' Sweet Cheeks?"

Harribel rolled her eyes and turned to face Nnoitora.

_Tch…great, now I have to deal with the perv on top of seeing a ghost from the past._

"What do you want Nnoitora?"

"Hey, I just wanna know if you'd like to go somewhere private and make out."

"I don't think so. Besides, I'm not really into anyone whose mouth looks like they tried to swallow a grand piano or who wears a hoodie made to look like a giant spoon."

"Aw, don't be like that Baby."

"Oh…and how would you like me to be?"

"Uh…Master Nnoitora," Tesla said as he ran up to him. "Here's your medication."

Nnoitora paled and turned on Tesla.

"I thought I told you not to bring that up."

"But I…I didn't mention what happened with Luppi. I was merely bringing you your medication since you forgot to take it."

"Fine. Give it here," Nnoitora said and yanked the bottle of medication from Tesla's hand.

Harribel looked wide-eyed at Nnoitora and then at Tesla. She beckoned for him to come closer. Tesla looked to his master who was too busy trying to open the child-proof cap and then snuck closer.

"What's this about Luppi?" Harribel asked.

"Well, I really shouldn't say anything, but…." Tesla looked around and saw his master still struggling with the bottle. "This was last week when we got assigned study buddies in Mister Ukitake's class. Nnoitora got stuck with Luppi and…and…let's just say that I arrived a little too late to save Master Nnoitora from a very rude awakening."

Harribel looked at Tesla and then snickered.

"Let me guess. Did he try to peak into the bathroom while Luppi was in there? And did he see that Luppi was standing up?"

Tesla didn't have a chance to either say "Yes" or "No".

"TESLA, GET OVER HERE AND HELP ME WITH THIS DAMN THING!" Nnoitora yelled.

Tesla jumped and scurried to Nnoitora. Harribel grinned. Even though Nnoitora had not changed his pervy ways, it was good to know that something happened that would make Nnoitora a bit more careful with whom he tried to hit on. She looked at the sidewalk and saw Luppi making his way to the school. Whatever Luppi had done to make Nnoitora start taking medication would remain a mystery. But Harribel found that to be just as well.

_After all, I'm sure it's something funnier to be imagined than revealed,_ she thought as she made her way to the school.

_**Ulquiorra**_

"ULQUIORRAAAAAAAAAA!" Yammy roared.

"What is it now?"

"LOOOOOOOOOOOK!" Yammy roared in glee as he showed Ulquiorra some of the flyers that the Exequias had posted around the school.

Ulquiorra's eyes darkened.

"And why should I care about something as trashy as sports tryouts?"

"Aw, come on, it'll be fun," Yammy said. "You can do this one."

Ulquiorra looked at the flyer Yammy was holding out to him and his brow furrowed even more.

"And why…in the name of Edgar Allan Poe would I want to be a cheerleader?"

"So that way you can get to be with the hot chicks," Ggio said as he and his gang passed.

"YEAH! And then you can yell all that you want," Avirama put in.

"EXACTA! And plus you get to wear a pretty little skirt," Findor said.

Ulquiorra slapped a palm to his face.

"And why would I want to wear a skirt?"

"Fan service?" Yammy suggested.

_**Grimmjow**_

Grimmjow didn't like the new kid. Even though Mordrath hadn't called him any names, he still seemed to be even more condescending than Ulquiorra. And that was saying something.

"HEY GRIMMY!"

"Oh…hey Nel," Grimmjow said smiling, and then noticed that she was carrying a bag. "Uh…what's that?"

"Oh, just a little something I got you on Saturday when we had our Karaoke Battle."

"You really didn't have to…"

"I know. But when I saw it I just couldn't resist. Here you go."

She thrust the bag into Grimmjow's chest. His took the gift and opened the bag. Grimmjow took one look into the bag and quickly closed and looked around.

"Well, what are you doing? Aren't you going to show it off?"

"But Nel, why should I?"

"Well, if you don't then I'll just take the bag back from you and take out your gift and show it off to the whole school."

"But, but…"

"Oh stop spluttering and just show me."

Grimmjow looked around and saw Starrk and Lilynette walking through the door. And then he saw Ulquiorra heading his way followed by Yammy. The last thing he wanted was for Ulquiorra to see what Nel got him. And yet, if he refused then Nel really would humiliate him in the worst possible manner. He began to wonder if perhaps he should just crawl into the air duct and die.

"Fine," Grimmjow whispered as he too out Nel's gift.

It was a blue chibi cat wearing a T-shirt that said "GRIMMNEL 4EVER". Nel nodded in approval as she got in close to Grimmjow to hide the gift.

"Did you really think I would let Ulquiorra see it?" Nel whispered.

"Uh…I…uh…"

"Just shut up. I suppose Starrk should have warned you. If you're going to be my boyfriend then you'll have to get used to being on the receiving end of my pranks. Isn't that right Starrk?"

"Huh?" Starrk asked as he was passing by. "Uh…what was that, Nel?" Then he saw the stuffed cat and a slight smile came on his face. "Oh…I see. Grimmjow, do yourself a favor and just accept the gift and make sure that Ulquiorra doesn't see it."

"Well, I have no intention of letting Lord Emo see it," Grimmjow said. "He wouldn't let me live it down."

Grimmjow put the stuffed cat back into the bag.

"Well, we better get going," Nel said. "Class will start up soon and… Where's Harribel?"

"What do you mean?" Starrk asked.

"Well, she's usually with you by this time of morning."

"Yeah, where is she?" Grimmjow asked.

"I don't know. I saw that her car was here, but when I tried to look for her, I couldn't find her. Nel, what do you think it could be? Did I do something wrong?"

Nel thought about it for a moment and then shook her head.

"No, it has nothing to do with you. But my mom was talking with her mother last night about something. But when I tried to listen in, I couldn't make out what they were saying."

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," Grimmjow said. "Maybe she discovered she had a zit this morning and freaked-out."

That earned him a punch in the arm from Nel.

"Hush you."

"Well, I don't care if she has a zit the size of Yammy's fist," Starrk said. "If something's bothering her, then I want to know what it is."

_**Harribel**_

Harribel splashed cold water on her face and looked at herself in the mirror. Seeing that car had shaken her up. It felt as though she was back at her old school. For a second she even thought that many of the students here looked like her old classmates. And for a moment, she was afraid of seeing Henry Marceaux behind her holding out a bouquet of flowers and a smile that said, "Take them or I will hurt you."

"Calm down, girl," she told herself. "It's just Mordrath. He wasn't the one who terrified you for five weeks."

_But he was the one who introduced you to the one who did,_ her inner voice said.

"That's in the past."

She waited for the inner voice to argue again, but it didn't speak up. She sighed and took out a bunch of paper towels. She wiped her face dry and noticed that her eyes were blood-shot. She grimace a little as she threw the paper toweling away and walked out of the girls' bathroom.

She walked down the hall towards her locker when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"I thought that was you."

She stopped and turned around. And her heart froze when she saw the cold green eyes and the condescending smirk on Mordrath Luisenbarn's face. He took a couple of steps forward and she scurried back a little.

"Now is that any way to treat an old classmate?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to go to school. Well, it's only going to be for this semester. Then I'll be going to the new prep school when it opens after the Winter Holiday."

"Did Henry come with you?"

"No, and don't worry. I have no intention of telling him that you're here. He's…no longer useful to me."

Harribel could not comprehend what Mordrath had just said.

"What?"

"He's no longer useful to me. And neither are you. So, you don't have to worry. All that you have to do is not get in my way for the rest of the semester and you'll be fine."

"So, you're not going to…"

"I won't unless you get in my way. You know how I operate. I hate anyone who pries into my personal business. And people who I hate end up being ruined." He smiled. "But those who stay out of my way and leave well-enough alone end up alright. And you, Tia, know this about me. And I know something about you."

Harribel's eyes narrowed.

"And what do you know?"

Mordrath only smiled as the bell rang.

"I need to get to class," he said. "But I'll see you around."

Harribel watched as Mordrath walked past her. He consulted his class schedule as he walked. She breathed a sigh of relief. Mordrath would only be at school for less than a semester and he would not have time to truly build a base for himself. But that didn't mean that he wouldn't be searching for someone to manipulate.

_**Starrk**_

Starrk saw Harribel walking with her bag slung over one shoulder.

"Bel, are you alright?"

Harribel looked up and gave a slight smile.

"I'm…fine."

"No you're not. Please, tell me what happened."

"Starrk, I…I just…"

"ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS," Baraggan's voice boomed over the intercom. "I AM SURE THAT BY NOW MOST OF YOU WILL HAVE NOTICED THE FLYERS POSTED AROUND SCHOOL. THEY ARE TO ANNOUNCE THAT TRYOUT S FOR THE SPORTS PROGRAMS WILL BEGIN THIS WEDNESDAY AFTER SCHOOL. ANY WHO ARE INTERESTED ARE TO BE DRESSED ACCORDINGLY AND MEET AT THE SPECIFIED MEETING PLACES. THAT IS ALL. NOW GET TO CLASS!"

Starrk and Harribel looked at each other and Harribel smiled a little.

"So, uh…are you…?" she began.

"Bel, you still haven't answered my question. What happened? Did I do something to make you upset?"

"No, no, it's just that…well…Starrk, there's a new student and…and just stay away from him. He's not the kind of guy you want to get on the bad-side of."

"Bel, what are you…?"

"Please, Starrk, if you see a boy with cold green eyes, stay away from him. Don't approach him. Don't confront him. Don't even glare at him. Just make sure he forgets about you the moment he looks away."

"But why not?"

"It's because…because…because I don't want to see you get hurt. Please…just promise me that you won't do anything to catch his interest."

Starrk could not understand what she was talking about. But he could only nod his head. Harribel put a hand on his cheek and looked at him.

"I'm glad I came here," she said.

"Well…I'm glad you did too."

_**Monday through Wednesday**_

As Wednesday approached most of the talk among the students was on what sports they would try out for. Those who didn't really care about sports looked at some of the after school programs that would be starting up. But with Kenpachi "encouraging" them to try out for any of the sports teams with a little help from the pink-haired official school mascot, they were beginning to change their tune.

However, no one received a harder time about joining a sports' team than Coyote Starrk. Not only did he have the smaller and far more frightening pink-haired menace to contend with but he also had his little sister getting on his case.

"Everyone knows that the good-looking girls go for the jock types," Lilynette told him sagely. "Do you want Harribel to think you're nothing but a loser nerd?"

And to make matters worse, his Uncle Dordoni was essentially saying the same thing.

"Girls go for the jocks, Niño. This is a sad fact of life that I had to learn the hard way."

He was glad that Uncle Kyoraku wasn't saying that. But then again he was mostly found sleeping on the school roof and so wasn't really one to get on his case. And Shunsui knew it.

The problem for Starrk was that he just didn't know what kind of sports he would be good at. Sports never really caught his interest the way it did Grimmjow or his little sister. He was more into sleeping and he was sure that if the three schools had some kind of sleeping contest then it was a certainty that he would win each and every event.

Unfortunately for him, there was no such event.

"There's got to be something," he muttered as he looked at the various flyers that had been posted throughout the school each day, courtesy of Rudobon and the Exequias Squad. "How about track? No…too much running. Football? No way, I don't want my head to get knocked off. Cheer…Hell no."

He looked over the flyers, feeling his heart sink with each and every one he saw. He was about to just give up when one flyer caught his eyes. He smiled as he took it off the wall and ignored the Exequias who came carrying a stack of the flyers and post another one in its place.

However, Starrk wasn't the only one who had the same kind of problems over those three days.

Szayel Aporro Granz was perhaps getting slightly less flak than Starrk. But the reason was simple: Granz loathed sports. He felt that they were beneath him in every way shape and form. He was the perfect being and what kind of perfect being played sports?

"Michael Jordan," Yylfordt replied on Wednesday at lunch as Szayel Aporro was going into one of his rants.

"I beg your pardon," his little brother said.

"Michael Jordan. You asked what kind of perfect being played sports. My answer is Michael Jordan. Or I could say Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or…"

"GYAAAH! ENOUGH!" Szayel shouted. "Those are not perfect beings. I am the perfect being along with Sheldon Cooper."

"Who?" Yylfordt asked.

"Never mind you ignorant dolt," Szayel grimaced. "The only reason why I bother putting up with sports of any kind is because we're graded on PE."

"You got that right," Grimmjow said. "And…I've got news for ya Pinky…"

"How dare you compare me with that idiotic rodent?" Szayel asked.

"I think he was making fun of your hair Bro."

"Damn right. Anyways, as I was saying, Pinky, Coach Zaraki is going to make it part of our grade."

"WHAT? CAN HE DO THAT?"

"Can Professor Urahara get away with allowing all of those explosions in his classes?" Harribel asked.

"Point taken," Szayel Aporro said and sagged. "How much is he basing the grade on?"

"Let's just say that if you get an A in the rest of his class but don't at least try out for a sports team…it can become a B+," Nel said.

"A…a…a…a…" Szayel Aporro stammered.

"That's right, Baby Bro, a B+. Just think of it. If you don't try out for at least one sports team then there goes your perfect string of A's."

That stopped Szayel Aporro's rants. Unfortunately, the only way to motivate Szayel Aporro Granz was if he could find some way to come up with one of his psychotic inventions or experiments to help him. And being the psycho genius that he was, Szayel Aporro already came up with something no more than five seconds after he had to face reality.

But Harribel was also having her own problems with picking out a sport.

"They don't have a volleyball team?" she asked Nel.

"Not until spring," Nel said. "But they have soccer."

"But…all I've ever known how to play is volleyball. It's the only sport I know I'm good at."

"Well…let's just pick one and see how it goes."

"I think I would rather wait for the spring."

"I know how you feel, but you never know. You might enjoy one of the sports they have for girls. I know that Lilynette is trying out for soccer. You can do the same. Who knows, you might find out some dirt on Wolfy."

"Nel, I thought I told you not to call him that," Harribel said blushing. "I knew it was a bad idea to tell you what my secret pet name for him is."

"Oh…and why would you want to call me 'Wolfy'?"

Nel and Harribel jumped a little and turned around to face Nnoitora. He wore his usual rape grin and the ever-present spoon hoodie. Tesla stood just behind him carrying the usual two bags instead of one.

"Ugh…what are you doing here?" Nel asked.

"Oh…nothing..."

"Yeah right, Nnoitora," Nel said. "I know you well-enough to know that when you say 'nothing' you actually mean 'something.' So you better fess up before I decide to show you that photo of the lovely Spoon Cheerleader again."

Nnoitora glowered at her.

"Why should I care?"

"Or perhaps I can call Luppi over for you," Harribel said. "I understand that you two had a _marvelous_ time."

Nnoitora paled at that and muttered something as he rushed away. Nel snorted.

"I…I didn't realize that…that you…that…you…knew about that," Nel said fighting back her laughter.

"That's the thing. I don't know what happened with Nnoitora and Luppi. Do you?"

"Nope, but…but I…I bet you it scarred him for life."

Harribel thought to the medication that Tesla had brought him and smiled.

"You have no idea," she said.

_**Wednesday after School**_

_**Grimmjow**_

Grimmjow sat on the bleachers with the others who were trying out for the Las Noches High football team, the Espadas. Yammy and Nirgge were busy trying to push each other off of the bleachers and were surrounded by a group of tough-looking and heavily-muscled boys. Yylfordt and Findor were throwing the football to each other to prepare for the actual tryout.

"LET'S GET THIS THING STARTED!" Avirama shouted from where most of Ggio's gang, except for Cuuhlhourne, sat. "I CAN DO THIS! I CAN DO THIS! I CAN DO THIIIIIIS!"

"SHUT UP!" Ggio shouted.

"Come on Ggio, join me in performing this most honorable and ancient ritual where we prepare to kick each other's asses."

"I would rather throw myself down a well," Ggio moaned.

"HEY GGIO," Grimmjow shouted. "WHERE'S CHARLOTTE?"

Ggio gave a slight shiver.

"You don't want to know," he said. "Trust me on this…you…you really, really, _really_ don't want to know."

"Cheerleading," Poww stated as he turned a page in the copy of _A Separate Peace_ that was required reading for Kyoraku's class.

Grimmjow's mouth gaped.

"Ggio…is this true?"

"It is," Ggio moaned.

"Oh God help us all," Grimmjow moaned.

"I hear ya," Ggio said. "Now…now I…I just…I just won't be able to look at the cheerleading squad."

"You can always go to your little girlfriend from that other school," Edorad said. "Uh…what was her name again? Soy Milk? Soy Sauce? I know it was something Soy."

"It's Sui-Feng. And for your information, we're not dating."

"Ggio and Soy Fang sitting in a tree," Grimmjow sang.

"Shut up, Grimmjow."

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G," Findor sang. "Exacta."

Ggio became red in the face.

"Shut up."

"Hey Bro, what's up?" Yylfordt asked as he gave Grimmjow a high-five. "Hey, one of the regular gang is missing for him. Where's Charlotte?"

"Uh…how should I put this to you?" Grimmjow asked. "Uhm…well…you see…the thing is that…"

"Cuuhlhourne's trying out for the cheerleading squad," Poww stated.

"Exacta," Findor moaned.

Yylfordt was silent for a while before he sank onto the bleachers.

"Why? Dear God, why do you have to be so cruel? Now…now my…my cheerleader fantasies are forever tarnished," he moaned.

"I feel your pain," Grimmjow said.

"ALRIGHT LADIES, LET'S GET STARTED," Coach Zaraki roared as he walked onto the field. "NIRGGE, YAMMY, POWW, GET DOWN HERE TO HELP ME TEST THESE NEWBIES!"

"He does realize that some of us were on his team last year, right?" Grimmjow asked.

"He only remembers those who can beat the crap out of the others," Ggio said. "I just hope to God that Cuuhlhourne doesn't get on the cheerleading squad."

_**Harribel**_

"This is so embarrassing," Tia said as she sat on the gym floor in her PE outfit.

"Don't be like that. This'll be fun," Nel said.

"Maybe for you, but I just feel so awkward about this. The last thing I want is to turn into some kind of stereotypical cheerleader ditz."

"Now Miss Harribel, you won't turn into a ditz," Sung- Sun said.

"How do you know?"

"The ditz department is already full," Apacci said and pointed.

Harribel found herself in an epic battle between bursting out laughing or vomiting.

She watched as Charlotte Cuuhlhourne and Luppi were both doing warm-up stretches. The thing that got to her was that they were both wearing gymnastic leotards for some reason that she couldn't fathom. Cuuhlhourne's leotards were white with sparkling red roses at the shoulders while Luppi's were red with glitter-lined green vines running up the sides and winding around his chest.

_Those two are very weird,_ she thought. _I mean, I'm talking Lady Gaga weird._

"I guess we should have known those two would be here," Nel said.

"I know. Maybe we should just go to where the…" Harribel stopped short when she saw the last person she expected to see. "Wh-wh-what's…what's Ulquiorra doing here?"

"What's that? Ulqui's here?" Nel asked. When she saw Ulquiorra sitting sulkily as far away from everyone else as he could a mischievous grin came upon her. "Oh…I am so taking a picture of this." She reached into her backpack and brought out her iPhone.

"I think someone may have beaten you to it," Harribel said and gestured to the door that lead out to the soccer field. Nel smiled when she saw Kiyone with her ever-present camera.

"Digital camera: $230.00; memory card: $35; photos taken by Kiyone: Priceless," Nel said and sighed.

"You know she'll tell Starrk's little sister," Harribel said.

"I know. Grimmy's gonna find out sooner or later about this. Besides, how often do you see Ulquiorra trying out to be a cheerleader? Also, I need to have some practice at photo shop. Ooh, perhaps I can make it look like he's dressed in a cheerleader's skirt."

Harribel could only shrug. She was glad not to be in Ulquiorra's shoes right now.

_**Lilynette**_

"NO WAY!"

"WAY!" Kiyone said as she showed Lilynette the picture.

"He must have been tricked into it," Tobiume said. "There's no way that Ulquiorra would try out for the cheerleading squad on purpose. He's too depressing."

"Well then what do you think happened?" Lilynette asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he lost a bet," Tobiume said.

There was the shrill sound of a whistle being blown. The three jumped and turned as Nanao Ise walked onto the field with a bag full of soccer balls slung over one shoulder.

"Alright girls, gather around," Nanao said. "We better get started before it gets late."

_**Starrk**_

Starrk stifled a yawn as he leaned against the fence surrounding the outside basketball court.

"Well, I'm surprised that you're actually trying out for something," Skullak said.

"Well, I'm trying out for benchwarmer," Starrk said. "And I heard that basketball has benchwarmers."

"Tch…that's rich," Nnoitora sneered. "Don't you think that's rich, Tesla? Wolf-boy here is treading on my turf."

Tesla could only nod his head.

"I'm sorry, Spoon-head, but what are you talking about?" Skullak asked.

"Oh…just that I own the basketball court and all the babes know it."

"Funny but I don't see a sign that says 'Property of Captain Spoon' anywhere," Skullak said. "And also…where are all of your adoring fans?"

Nnoitora ground his teeth at that and turned his attention back on Starrk.

"Don't get any ideas, Wolf-boy. That bitch is mine."

"I didn't even know I had a dog," Starrk said and yawned.

"I meant that hot piece of ass you're hanging around," Nnoitora said. "She's mine."

Starrk's eyes narrowed and he frowned even deeper. Nnoitora grinned at that.

"Oh…did I hit a nerve? Whatcha gonna do about it, Wolf-boy? Are ya gonna hurt me? If you try I'll just beat you up right in front of her. That way she can see what a true man looks like."

"Oh will she?" Starrk growled. "Listen to me, if you even try to hurt Harribel then you…"

"Oh, so you know Tia as well?"

They turned and looked at Mordrath Luisenbarn.

"Hey, what are you doing butting into our business?" Nnoitora asked.

"I merely heard him mention Tia Harribel's name," Mordrath replied and jerked his head in Starrk's direction. "I merely became curious in what capacity you gentlemen know her."

"Did you actually call Nnoitora a 'gentleman'?" Skullak asked. "I'm sorry but he's no gentleman."

Mordrath turned his head to look at Skullak.

"Oh…I'm sorry. I don't believe that we've met. I'm Mordrath Luisenbarn and you are…"

"Skullak Tuma and this is my friend Coyote Starrk."

"Tuma and Starrk," Mordrath said as he pointed at each one in turn. "Then I take it that the tall one is Nnoitora."

"Yeah," Starrk said. "And he's…"

"HEY! I asked you a question smartass. What are you doing butting into our business?"

Mordrath sighed and looked at Nnoitora.

"I believe that I already answered. I merely became curious of as to how you know Tia Harribel. I believe that neither of you answered the implied question."

"Harribel and I are friends," Starrk said. "How did you know her?"

"She's an old classmate. And you, Tuma, how do you know her?"

"I know her through Starrk. He's a good friend of mine and he introduced her to me. As for how the Incredible Spoon knows her…I have no idea."

"He bugs her," Starrk said.

"HEY! I'm right here ya know."

"We know," Skullak said. "It's just that we really don't care."

"Is that so?"

"Damn right. So Mordrath, what was she like at her old school?"

"I suppose you could say that she hasn't changed much," Mordrath said and turned his attention to Nnoitora. "I would advise that you don't try to mess with her."

"Would you? Hey Wolfey, it looks like you got some more competition."

Mordrath looked at Starrk who was blushing and smiled.

"I see. Yes, you would be her type. Don't worry. I could care less who she crushes on. But you mistook me, Nnoitora. You don't want to mess with her because she can get really violent. I once saw her hit another guy just like you in the face when he goosed her after school."

"Oh really? I bet the guy was a wimp."

"Actually he was on our football team. If I recall he was rather on the large side, about as large as that Yammy guy."

"Holy shit," Starrk said and whistled. "And here I thought she was as gentle as a dove."

"She's only that way to people who are nice to her," Mordrath said. "Even then, she only gets really violent if a person pushes her to that point. I can tell you that when she gets to that point, she's as aggressive as a shark. Do you want to know what we called her behind her back?"

"I…would rather not," Starrk said.

"We called her 'The Tiburón Princess,'" Mordrath said. "You know after that character in _BattleStar Los Lobos_."

"Beautiful and yet deadly," Starrk said nodding.

"That's right. And you should have seen what she did to her ex."

"She…she had a boyfriend?" Starrk asked, shocked.

"That's right. He was rather possessive of her I'm afraid. If I had known he was like that I would never have introduced her to him."

Skullak frowned. There was something in the way Mordrath said that part that made him doubt what he was saying. He looked at Starrk who looked rather uncomfortable.

"So…you like basketball?" Skullak asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Not really," Mordrath said. "The only sport I care for is fencing. But since this school doesn't offer fencing I figured I might try something different. Besides, isn't Coach Zaraki grading us on whether we try out for something or not?"

"I suppose he is," Skullak said.

"That doesn't surprise me. My grand-uncle has been known to tolerate such foolishness so long as it gives him an edge over his rivals. I'm the same way. You see I may not care for sports but I love winning. And I loathe losing at anything."

"Alright boys, gather around," Ukitake said as he came onto the court with a clipboard and a basketball under one arm.

"Well, it looks like we're about to begin. We'll continue at a later time," Mordrath said and walked away from them.

"Fucking stuck-up sissy," Nnoitora growled. "I bet I can beat him at anything."

"Maybe at jerking-off," Skullak muttered as his frown deepened. "But I highly doubt at anything else."

"I want each of you to write your name on the sign-in sheet and then I want you to run three warm-up laps around the court and then we can get started," Ukitake continued.

"Wait…we have to do laps?" Starrk asked.

"Well, basketball does require running," Skullak said. "Did you think it was going to be easy?"

_**Harribel**_

"Alright students, I want you all to sign in," Yumichika said.

"He's…the cheerleading coach?" Sung-Sun asked.

"I knew it," Apacci said smiling. "Hey Mila Rose, you owe me 20 bucks."

"Yeah, yeah, don't rub it in," Mila Rose said as she slapped a $20 bill into Apacci's hand.

"Loly, Menoly, please make sure that each student here signs in."

"Yes Coach Yumichika," Menoly said.

"Whatever you say," Loly said and glared at Harribel. Harribel looked at Nel.

"What did I do?"

"Oh don't worry about her," Nel replied. "She always glares at anyone whom she views as a threat."

"But why does she view me as a threat?"

"It's because she's afraid that you're here to upstage her. Oh goody, she's giving me the same look. HEY LOLY! HEY MENOLY!" Nel called out as she waved.

"Hey Nel," Menoly said as she walked up to them. "Care to sign in?"

"Sure. So what do you think the chances are of us getting on the cheer squad?"

"I would say that they're pretty good for you Nel. We still haven't forgotten about what you did to Nnoitora. It's such a pity that the lovely Spoon Cheerleader isn't here," Menoly said.

"Why would we want that perv here?" Apacci asked.

"Yeah, the last thing we need is for another perv hanging around Lady Harribel," Mila Rose said.

"Would you please stop that?" Harribel asked as she rolled her eyes. "How many times must you be told that Starrk isn't a perv?"

"Tch…Starrk…a perv?" Loly asked. "Starrk's too lazy to be a perv. I'm surprised that you even chase after him. Now me, I wouldn't mind getting my clutches on a piece of Grimmjow Pie."

"Is that so?" Nel asked with a bit of heat in her voice. "Need I remind you that pie belongs to me?"

"Oh really?" Loly asked.

"Yeah, so keep your hands off my Grimmjow Pie."

"Loly, please it's too early in the semester to get into a fight. Couldn't you just…you know…_not_ get into a fight?"

"Oh be quiet Menoly. Or do I have to bring up your own little crush on…?"

"DON'T!" Menoly cried out. Many of the others looked at her and Menoly put a hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout, Loly."

"Wait, Menoly has a crush on someone?" Nel asked. "Who is it?"

"Please don't tell, Loly. Please," Menoly pleaded.

"Tch…fine you little whiner," Loly said. "But don't blame me that you may have missed your chance over a little fear of being embarrassed."

"Come on Menoly, you can tell us," Nel said. "Harribel and I won't make fun of you."

"Yes, and I can make sure that they," Harribel said and glared at Mila Rose and Apacci in particular, "won't tell anyone or give you a hard time."

"But I…"

"Menoly, just woman-up and tell them," Loly said. "Honestly, you're as bad as a boy."

"Fine, but promise me that you won't laugh."

"We promise," Nel said.

"Fine, if you insist." She sighed. "I like…" But she was interrupted by the doors to the gym opening and Cirucci rushing in.

"Sorry, I'm late Coach Yumichika. I had to take care of things before I could come here."

"Oh, Miss Sanderwicci, I was afraid that you weren't coming and you were so kind as to arrive fashionably late as well."

Nel and Harribel looked at each other.

"I wonder what she was taking care of," Harribel said.

"Never mind about that," Nel said. "Anyways, Menoly you were about to…" But when Nel turned to face Menoly she was already well-away from them.

"Damn that girl," Loly sighed. "She really needs to get a pair. Excuse me before she decides to bolt."

As Loly departed Nel and Harribel looked at each other.

"So, who do you think she likes?" Nel asked.

"I don't even know her that well. How can I make a statement on that?"

"Point taken, but still…you are curious."

"Well…I suppose…"

"There you go. You want to know who Menoly has a crush on and you want to help her catch her knight in shining armor."

"But…what if she likes…what if she likes Starrk?" Harribel asked.

"I don't think she likes Starrk in that way," Nel said. "I have my own theory on the matter."

"Oh, care to share?"

"I think that Menoly likes," she leaned closer and whispered, "Findor."

"What? Why would you say that?"

"Well, one time when she was angry, she actually said, 'No es exacto.' That's all the proof I need."

_**Grimmjow**_

"ACHOOO!" Findor sneezed.

"What's the matter, Findor?" Grimmjow asked. "Is someone talking about you?"

"No es exacto," Findor said. "I think I might be coming down with a cold."

"Are you sure that it's not from all of those fumes you and Avirama are creating in Mr. Urahara's class whenever Di Roy and Nakeem drag you into another contest?" Ggio asked.

"Exacta," Findor said. "My mom and dad got a bad case of the cold on Monday and I guess I caught it."

"Well, just try to focus," Grimmjow said.

"GRIMMJOW!" Kenpachi shouted. "GET DOWN HERE AND SHOW THESE LADIES HOW TO DO THE CHOP-THE-HEAD-OFF-A-HOLLOW PLAY!"

"What's a Hollow?" Ggio asked.

"I don't know," Grimmjow said. "I think it's one of those crazy made-up things from that pink-haired menace."

Grimmjow made sure that his football pads were on right and picked up one of the helmets. He may be extremely competitive when it came to sports, but he wasn't stupid. He knew that if he got hit by either Yammy or Nirgge or Poww then he would be in a world of hurt.

"HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE, look it Nakeem, Grimm-Kitty's gonna face off against The Tank," Di Roy said.

"HEH-HEH-HEH-HEH, he's gonna get hurt," Nakeem replied.

"Gee thanks for pointing out the obvious," Grimmjow said. "But I intend not to let that happen."

"ALRIGHT LADIES, I WANT TO SEE SOME BLOOD ON TOP OF THOSE SWEAT AND TEARS! YACHIRU! MAKE SURE THAT THE BANDAGES ARE READY JUST IN CASE SOMEBODY LOSES AN ARM!"

"AYE, AYE, KENNY!" the tiny mascot shouted and rushed off the field.

Grimmjow got into his position and saw that Yammy was staring right at him.

_This isn't good,_ he thought. _Yammy the Tank has me right in his sights._

Then Yammy looked away and focused on the defensive man in front of him. Grimmjow sighed in relief. That meant that he most likely wouldn't have to contend with Yammy after all. And that was a relief.

He could barely hear Coach Zaraki barking out instructions. He was in the Zone. He was focused on the task at hand. He could feel the adrenaline rushing through his body and the increase supply of oxygen flow through his veins. His heart beat faster and his breathing increased. When he heard Coach Zaraki blow the whistle, he ran straight ahead. He looked to where the practice Quarterback was preparing to throw the football and was not surprised to see him faint a pass to Ggio before throwing the ball to him.

_I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it._

The football was flying through the air. If he timed it right then it would be a complete pass and his path to the End Zone would be clear.

_I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it._

He began his jump into the air. He knew that Yammy was charging towards him, but Yammy's size, while good with blocking and tackling, would be a hindrance if it came down to an actual chase.

_I got it._

He jumped.

_I got it._

His hands reached for the football.

_I got it._

He got hold and landed on his feet. He began to run. The practice defenders were well on their way, but the path ahead was clear. Grimmjow focused all of his attention on moving forward.

_I GOT IT! I GOT IT! I GOT…_

That was when something struck him from the side. Grimmjow went down, trying to keep his grip on the football. But the force had been so sudden and caught him completely by surprise that he fumbled the football.

_NOOOOOOOOOOO!_

Grimmjow landed on the grass with a thud. He tried to comprehend what happened. He knew that his left side was clear, but…

"FRIIA!" Findor called out. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

Grimmjow focused his attention on the blonde-haired girl who was getting to her feet and brushing herself off.

"Ow, that hurt," she griped and then looked around. "Oh…DAMN IT! NOT AGAIN!"

_**Starrk**_

Starrk yawned as he stood near center court. He had no idea what he was supposed to be doing and he didn't really care. All that he cared about was getting off the court so that way he could take a nap.

The whistle blew and Starrk sighed in relief.

"Time, time," Ukitake said before breaking out into another coughing fit.

"MISTER UKITAKE, MISTER UKITAKE," Sentaro shouted as he rushed to the white-haired professor's aid. "Are you alright? Do you need me to get you some tea or how about I call for the school nurse?"

"No, no, I'll be…"

He was interrupted by a soccer ball flying into Sentaro's face.

"IDIOT! DON'T YOU KNOW IT'S MY JOB TO HELP MR. UKITAKE?" someone shouted.

Starrk looked up and saw Kiyone giving a death stare at Sentaro. Sentaro picked up the soccer ball and flew it at Kiyone.

"GO BACK TO YOUR OWN PRACTICE!" he shouted.

"WHY DON'T YOU MAKE ME MONKEY BREATH? AS LONG AS PROFESSOR UKITAKE NEEDS MY HELP THEN I'LL BE THERE TO HELP HIM."

"No, no, there's no need. I'll be fine," Ukitake said. "But thank you for your concern. You better run along to your own practice before Miss Isane decides to make you run extra laps around the soccer field."

"YES SIR," Kiyone shouted as she snapped a salute and then went running back to the soccer field.

"How does she do that?" Skullak asked.

"I suppose it's one of those fan girl kind of things," Starrk said.

"It's…weird."

"It's creepy," Starrk said and yawned. "I just hope that Lilynette doesn't follow her example."

"Well…I think that's all for today. Don't forget that those who are still interested in joining the basketball team are supposed to meet up in the gym after school tomorrow. We'll be doing team exercises then," Ukitake said. "You're all dismissed."

"Well, that wasn't too bad," Skullak said.

"I didn't get a nap in."

"Well, you can always do that at home. Well, we better wait for the others to get done. In the meantime we can get some of our homework done that way there's less for us to do at home."

"I suppose so. I wonder how Bel's doing."

_**Harribel**_

Harribel felt sore. Most of the session was just stretching, but most of those stretches focused on muscles in her legs and arms and stomach that she never even knew she had. Her muscles were aching from doing the pyramid and her thighs were sore from all of the high kicks Yumichika had them do.

And there were moments where she thought she would go insane. Most of those times involved Luppi or Cuuhlhourne trying to out-do each other on some of the practice routines Yumichika had them do. But her surprise was that Ulquiorra had not been involved in any of the exercises.

_So why is he here?_

"Nel, would you please pass me one of the Gatorades?"

"Which one would you like? We have fruit punch and arctic blue and lemon/lime and…"

"Just…whichever one you pick."

"Okay. Whew, I forgot how tiring cheerleading can be," Nel said as she handed Harribel one of the Gatorades.

"Nel, I'm curious about something."

"Well, what is it?"

"Ulquiorra is here but he hasn't joined in one routine. Why is that?"

"Well…it's not because he's a pervert," Nel said. "And it sure as Hell can't be to lift up his spirits because he looks more miserable than ever. And I never thought that was even possible."

"So why…?"

"Oh, Mr. Schiffer," Yumichika said. "I forgot that you were supposed to be here. I wish you would have spoken up."

"I would have refused you that wish," Ulquiorra said.

"Well, I'm so glad that Miss Inoue recommended you for this. She's told me so much about how you need to be more involved in something lively and energetic whenever we meet with the rest of the Arts Appreciation Society."

Nel and Harribel looked at each other.

"He was…" Harribel began.

"…drafted," Nel finished. "Oh the poor thing, he had no real option but to come."

"Anyways, your costume has already been designed. All that we need to do is take down your measurements."

Nel gasped.

"What is it?"

"Harribel, there's only one thing that it could possibly be."

"What is it?"

"Of course…I should have known better."

"Nel, I'm the new girl around here. You know more about this sort of thing than I do."

"Harribel, Ulquiorra's going to be…" Nel stopped and a smile spread on her face. "HE'S GONNA BE BARRY THE BAT ESPADA!" she shouted.

"Uh…who's Barry the Bat Espada?" Harribel asked.

Nel pointed to the center of the gym floor. Harribel saw what appeared to be a smiling cartoon bat wearing a long-tailed coat and half a helmet on one side of his head with a sword drawn.

"That's Barry the Bat Espada. He's our school's mascot," Nel said.

"And they want Ulquiorra to be this…mascot?"

"I suppose so. But I suppose it could be worse. They could have had it been Nnoitora. But I suppose that if they wanted the mascot to reflect him it would be Henry the Horny Hot Dog."

Harribel suppressed the urge to laugh.

"Alright girls…and boys…that's all for today. Next round will be on Friday at 2:45," Yumichika said. "I hope to see you all back here then. Be sure to get plenty of rest and to stretch out before coming. Oh…and don't forget to look beautiful."

_**Grimmjow**_

"So you're Findor's little sister?" Grimmjow asked.

"Huh? Oh…yeah, I'm Friia and you must be Blueberry Muffin."

"GYAH! MY NAME'S NOT BLUEBERRY MUFFIN!" Grimmjow shouted.

"Friia, why are you here?" Findor asked. "I thought I told you to go straight home when you got out of class."

"But I wanted to cheer you on, Big Brother," Friia said. "You said I could."

"But then what were you doing out on the field? You could have been hurt."

"I'm sorry. I was playing with Yachiru and I…I kind of…"

"Not this again," Findor moaned. "You got running and you had a hard time stopping again."

"Exacta."

"Hey, what's going on here? Why aren't you killing each other?" Kenpachi asked as he strode up to them. He stopped when he saw Friia and smiled. "Oh it's you again. I should have known that Yachiru was taking her sweet time getting back here because she got caught up playing with you."

"Hey Kenny," Friia said. "I'm sorry for interrupting. I'll…just get going."

"Now wait just a minute," Kenpachi said. "What grade are ya in?"

"Well…I'll start high school next year," Friia said. "And I…"

"HA! Hear that, Grimmjow? You got taken down by a girl who isn't even in high school. I hope you learned something from that."

"WHAT THE FU—I MEAN HECK SHOULD I HAVE LEARNED?"

"To always be aware of your surroundings," Poww stated. "You didn't see her and so she was able to tackle you from the side."

"Exacta," Friia said smiling.

"Oh joy, a lecture from Poww the Whale and getting tackled by a little girl. Can my day get any better?" Grimmjow moaned.

"GRIMMY!" someone shouted.

He turned and saw Nel running with Skullak, Cirucci, Starrk, and Harribel coming at a slower pace behind her. And at the back of the oncoming pack were Apacci and Mila Rose who were arguing about something again and Sung-Sun who was only rolling her eyes.

Grimmjow's face turned bright red at the snickering coming from the other guys. But he was surprised to see Kenpachi grinning down at him.

"'Grimmy' eh? Looks like I better put in the order for your jersey to say that," Kenpachi said. "That way our foes can die laughing."

"Uh…whatever you say sir," Grimmjow said as he tried to make himself smaller.

"Well, I suppose that's all for today," Kenpachi said rather disappointed. "BUT I EXPECT YOU ALL BACK HERE TOMORROW! IF YOU'RE NOT THEN I'LL HAVE YACHIRU HUNT YOU DOWN AND DRAG YOU HERE! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?"

"YES SIR!" they all shouted and scurried to escape.

"Have a good evening," Kenpachi said. "Friia, you're invited to come and play with Yachiru any time."

"Thank you sir," Friia said.

"BYE SLIDER!" Yachiru shouted as she ran after Kenpachi.

"BYE HISSY CAT!" Friia shouted in return.

"Well, I better get her back home before mother throws a fit," Findor said. "Don't worry Grimmjow. I'm sure that everyone at school will know by tomorrow about your little run-in with Friia."

"Lovely," Grimmjow snarled.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, you're not the only one who has been put into an embarrassing situation," Nel said.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, you'll find out," Nel said grinning.

"Anyways, I better pick up Lilynette," Starrk said. "Her soccer tryout is most likely over already and I don't want her to worry."

"I'll go with you," Harribel said. "Apacci, Mila Rose, Sung-Sun, you can go home now."

"Are you sure?" Apacci asked. "I mean, we could…"

"I'll be fine. Starrk's little sister can protect me if he tries anything."

Grimmjow glowered at Harribel. But this earned him a slap to the back of the head by Nel.

"Don't be a fool. She's just playing around."

"Oh…I knew that," Grimmjow said.

"So how did the tryout go, Skully?" Cirucci asked.

"Well it went about as well as can be expected. Starrk practically slept standing up the whole time."

"Figures," Cirucci said as they started walking off.

"We'll see you tomorrow, Grimmjow," Skullak said.

"Yeah, whatever," Grimmjow said. "Right now I just want to get home and just take it easy."

"I know what you mean," Nel said as she grabbed Grimmjow's arm. "Shall we?"

Grimmjow smiled and nodded.

_**Lilynette**_

Lilynette was practically skipping off the soccer field as Starrk and Harribel approached.

"Well, someone's in a good mood," Starrk said. "I take it that things went well."

"Oh more than well," Lilynette said grinning. "Miss Ise told me that if I wanted to then I could be on the soccer team. She normally doesn't let freshmen on the team but she's willing to make an exception in my case."

"That's wonderful," Harribel said. "It sounds like Miss Ise really liked what she saw."

Lilynette nodded her head.

"You're looking at Las Noches High's new Girls' Soccer Team star. At least that's what Miss Ise told me."

"That's because she gets a lot of practice trying to wake me up in the morning," Starrk whispered.

"You know, I think I'm starting to like Miss Ise. She may not be an exciting teacher, but she's one Hell of a soccer coach."

**End of Chapter 7**

**A.N.: Wow, it's been a while since I updated "Life at Las Noches High". I want to thank all of the readers who have waited patiently for me to put up the next chapter. Hopefully I can get chapters up a lot quicker than I have been able to over these past few months.**

**I want to send a special shout-out to darkmachines whose birthday was on March 20. I know I'm a bit late, but Happy Birthday.**

**Anyways thank you for reading and please review.**


	8. Chapter 8: Flyers of Doom

**Life at Las Noches High**

**Chapter 8: The Flyers of Doom**

The alarm clock went off, driving a spike into Starrk's head with its loud beeping. Starrk moaned as he rolled in bed. A hand drifted out from under the covers, seeking the offending device that dared to ruin his sleep. It drifted to where the clock should be, only to touch the smooth table surface. As the hand continued to blindly seek the clock, the sound seemed to come closer to his ears until…

"WAKE UP!"

Starrk jumped and tumbled out of bed. His head banged against the desk.

"Agh," Starrk moaned and rubbed the back of his head. He looked up and saw Lilynette standing with the alarm clock in her hands. She gave a satisfied smile as she turned the clock off. "Lilynette, why'd you do that? I was trying to sleep."

"That's why. Get moving. We're behind schedule."

Starrk moaned as he got to his feet. He yawned and looked at his bed, wanting to just crawl back under the covers. He leaned over and picked up his stuffed wolf, Holo, and put the plushy back on the bed.

As he stepped into the hall he saw Dordoni trying to zip his computer bag shut.

"Why won't you close, you stupid Niño?" Dordoni muttered under his breath.

"Having problems with the zipper again, Uncle Dordoni?" Starrk asked.

"Ah, Coyote, you're finally awake," Dordoni said and chuckled. He tugged at the zipper again. "Yeah, this stupid zipper got stuck again."

"Here, let me," Starrk said as he knelt beside the bag.

He looked at the zipper and pinched the cloth on the zipper's left teeth. He tugged gently on the zipper as if he was opening the bag instead of closing it while rubbing the underside of the cloth close to the zipper. There was some resistance before the zipper gave way. Starrk sighed as he zipped the bag shut, making sure to be careful not to let any of the fabric get caught in the zipper's closing teeth.

"Thanks, Niño," Dordoni said. "Anyways, I'll be late getting home tonight; so I won't be having dinner with you tonight. Mr. Arruruerie needs some financial reports done by the meeting next Monday and his sister…"

"Mr. Arruruerie has a sister?" Starrk asked.

"Yeah, her name's Niero."

"I thought your boss's first name was Aaroniero."

"No, we just call the Arruruerie siblings 'Aaroniero' for convenience," Dordoni explained. "Well, I better get going before Aaron decides to yell at me and Niero decides to keep me overnight to help the interns organize the filing cabinets."

"Fine," Starrk sighed. "Lilynette and I can just go to McDonalds or something."

"Of course that won't be until after tryouts," Lilynette said. "Today's the last day and then we'll find out whether we made any of the sports teams or not next week."

"I'll pass on the tryouts," Starrk said.

"I won't," Lilynette replied. "It's important that I do this. The last thing I want to do is miss out on the soccer team just because I wasn't there."

"Fine, fine," Starrk said. "We'll go through a drive-thru after you get done."

"Or perhaps you can have your girlfriend fix us something," Lilynette said with a mischievous grin. "After all, how do you know she'll make a good wife if you don't know how well she cooks?"

Starrk gaped at Lilynette. Surely she was jesting. After all, Harribel wasn't his girlfriend. Right? He wanted to protest. However, he couldn't get the words out and only ended up sounding like an old outboard motor.

"Stop that sputtering, Niño. I'm sure she was just joking," Dordoni said. "Besides, those are things to start thinking about in college; not high school."

_**Grimmjow**_

When Grimmjow pulled up in front of the address that Nelliel gave him all that he could do was gape. The house was not what he expected. He expected a two-story home painted in a nice shade of tan with a white picket fence. What he got instead was a two-story home painted green with the door painted a bright red. The lawn was decorated with grazing plastic sheep. Near the front door he saw two plastic rams preparing to butt heads.

To make things even stranger the path leading to the door was lined by twin rows of stone rams facing each other as though on sentry.

Grimmjow was the type who was normally not afraid of anything. However, he had a certain aversion to lawn decorations. While he wasn't afraid of getting tackled by Poww or Yammy during football practice, he felt uneasy around plastic flamingos and the Travelocity "Roaming Gnome." The reason was because of those dead, staring eyes. If there was one thing that made Grimmjow uneasy in any circumstance it would be being stared at in the way that a seventeenth-century judge would stare at a person on trial. However, the thing that bugged him the most was that it was plastic and stone sheep making him feel uneasy. It was one thing with stone lions outside of a library since those animals were supposed to be intimidating.

Sheep weren't supposed to be intimidating. But the same could be said of rabbits before Monty Python came along.

When he reached the door he saw that the door knocker was a golden ram's head with the ring coming from the ram's nostrils. Grimmjow took a deep breath as he took hold of the ring and knocked the door.

He waited, doing his best to ignore the many plastic and stone eyes behind him and the gold eyes in front of him. He hoped that Nel was ready to go. The last thing he wanted, at least right now, was to face her…

The door opened and Grimmjow was taken aback by the woman standing in front of him. She had a heart-shaped face framed by flowing turquoise hair with streaks of silvery gray at the temples. She was dressed in a dark green business dress with a cream shirt that truly accentuated her curves. The way she held herself spoke of confidence and authority.

"Yes? How may I help you?" she asked.

"Oh…uh…I'm here to pick-up Nel for school," Grimmjow replied.

"Oh, you must be Grimmjow," she said. "Please, come in. She's just finishing getting ready."

"Uh…thank you."

Grimmjow stepped inside and saw that the table by the entrance was covered with framed family photos and figurines of sheep and rams. He saw an umbrella stand that was made to look like two rams on their hind-hooves as though in combat.

"Uh…this is very…nice," Grimmjow said.

"That's nice of you to say, even though it's not true," the woman said and smiled. "Would you like some juice or some coffee?"

"Uh, no thank you, Mrs. Tu Odelschwank."

"Please, call me 'Velle'. My daughter's told me that you're one of Coyote's friends."

"Yeah, and…uh…"

"I remember when I was young," Velle said. "So I recognize the symptoms of young love and I see them in my daughter. That's why I need to make sure that we have a clear understanding."

Grimmjow swallowed when he saw the smile on Velle's face.

"Uh…what might that be?"

"Oh, let's just say that if you hurt my daughter in any way or try to have your way with her, then I'll be more than happy to take your manhood away," she said as though she was commenting on a particularly nice dessert. "Do we have an understanding?"

Grimmjow could only nod his head. He had to suppress the desire to sigh in relief when he heard footsteps coming down the steps.

"Hi Grimmy!" Nel called as she hurried down the stairs. Grimmjow was not surprised to see that she was wearing her white beret. "Oh, I'm so happy to see that you and Mommy are getting along so well."

"Yes, we're getting along splendidly, dear," Velle said. "Did you remember your scarf? The news said that it's supposed to be a little chillier today."

"Yes, Mother," Nel said. "And I also remembered to pack an umbrella in case it rains."

"That's my girl," Velle said and gave Nel a hug. "Have a good day, dear. I'll see you later tonight."

"Bye Mom," Nel said. "Ready?" she asked Grimmjow.

"Yeah," Grimmjow said as he got up. "It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Tu Odelschwank." He didn't want to refer to Nel's mother by her first name in front of her. That would make him feel even more awkward.

"It was nice to meet you too, Mr. Jaegerjaquez," Velle said and smiled, but her eyes didn't smile.

Grimmjow swallowed and closed the door behind him.

"So, did Mother threaten to take away your manhood if you tried anything?" Nel asked.

"Yeah, she did."

"Don't worry. She does that to all the guys who come over. She did that to Starrk the first few times he came over. She stopped after Starrk fell asleep in a bowl of tomato bisque."

"So…what's with the sheep?" Grimmjow asked as they walked down the sheep-lined walkway.

"Oh, do you like them? I picked them out myself," Nel said.

"Uh…yeah…they're…nice," Grimmjow muttered.

_**Harribel**_

Harribel was stuffing her PE uniform into her school bag when Evanescence's "Going Under" came from her cell phone. She was surprised to see that it was Sung-Sun calling her.

_She rarely ever calls me at this time of day,_ Harribel thought as she accepted the call.

"Hey Sung-Sun, what's up?"

"Miss Harribel, Apacci got us in an accident, again," Sung-Sun's voice came from the other end.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Apacci shouted from somewhere in the background.

"She was saying that your crazy-ass driving got us in another accident, dumb-ass," Mila Rose's voice responded.

"SHUT UP! NOBODY ASKED YOU!"

"What happened?" Harribel asked.

"Apacci turned a corner a bit too fast and we hit a tree," Sung-Sun replied.

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT! THAT STUPID TREE CAME OUT OF NOWHERE!" Apacci yelled.

"Have you called a tow truck?" Harribel asked.

"We have," Mila Rose said. "The guy's here getting the jeep hooked-up to take to the shop, and he's been eyeing us up-and-down."

"Alright, you three just stay put," Harribel said. "I'll come pick you up."

"You better hurry," Apacci's voice snarled. "If that guy keeps checking-out my ass then I'll beat his ass to a pulp."

"Don't flatter yourself. You don't even have an ass," Mila Rose's voice responded.

"SHUT UP, FAT ASS!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?"

"YOU HEARD ME, BALLOON BUTT!"

"Miss Harribel, please come as soon as you can," Sung-Sun pleaded as Apacci and Mila Rose broke out into another of their arguments. "I think the driver may be thinking of calling the police."

"Alright, I'm on my way," Harribel said and hung up. She sighed and shook her head.

_**Grimmjow**_

"YES!" Grimmjow shouted causing Nel to jump a little.

"What is it?" Nel asked.

"I'm not the first one here," Grimmjow replied. His grin spread from ear to ear as he pointed to the black Murciélago that could only belong to the future Barry the Bat Espada, although Grimmjow did not know that particular detail.

"Is that the only reason why you wanted to start picking me up?" Nel asked, glaring at him.

"No, no, no, I wanted to start picking you up to get to know you better," Grimmjow protested. Nel raised one eyebrow and Grimmjow could only sigh. "Fine, I admit that finally not being the first one here was part of it. After all, I have my reputation to keep and being the first one to school makes me look like some kind of loser nerd.

"But I swear that getting to know you the most is the most important reason."

Nel smiled.

"Well, just as long as I'm the most important reason," Nel said. She looked to the school and her eyes widened in surprise. "What is Ulquiorra doing? It looks like he's in some kind of trouble."

"What do you mean?" Grimmjow asked. The very thought that the Lord of Bats was in trouble didn't make any sense.

"Well, he's running around in a panic and he's tearing down some sheets of paper," Nel said and pointed.

Grimmjow looked and his blue eyes widened in surprise.

"Holy shit," Grimmjow muttered as he watched Ulquiorra running around like a chicken with its head cut off. He got out of his Jeep Pantera, his grin was even wider. "HEY BAT BOY! DID YOU REALIZE YOU SHOULD BE IN BED RIGHT NOW?" Grimmjow shouted.

Ulquiorra didn't seem to hear. Instead, Ulquiorra continued his frantic running.

"Strange, he wasn't being a smart-ass like usual," Grimmjow muttered.

"What's wrong?" Nel asked as she got out of the Jeep.

"Something must have really set Ulquiorra off. He didn't bother calling me 'Sir Blueberry.'"

_**Harribel**_

Harribel pulled up in time to see the tow truck drive away dragging Apacci's Jeep Cierva away. Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun were sitting on sidewalk with their bags beside them. Harribel looked to the somewhat damaged tree nearby and shook her head. She knew that one day Apacci's driving would end in a wreck, and she was always afraid that it would end with one of them dead. However, Harribel was relieved to see that all three were alright, although Apacci and Mila Rose were still yelling at each other.

Harribel honked the horn and the three immediately got to their feet.

"Lady Harribel," Sung-Sun said. "Thank you so much for picking-us up."

"What are friends for?" Harribel asked before dropping her voice into a whisper. "So, did Apacci and Mila give the tow-truck driver a hard time?"

"Apacci called the poor guy a 'perv' a few times and Mila Rose threatened to, and I quote, 'make your man-parts become the newest things in space.'"

"Ouch," Harribel said and winced. "I hope he took the hint and just went about doing his job."

"He did, although that didn't stop Apacci and Mila Rose from staring daggers at him."

"That does not surprise me."

"SHOTGUN!" Apacci shouted.

"Hey, what are you doing calling 'Shotgun'? Are you five?"

"Can it, Cow. The front seat's mine," Apacci said.

"Sung-Sun, do you mind sitting in the back with Mila Rose, preferably on the passenger side. I want to keep those two as far apart as possible on the way to school."

"I can't say that I blame you," Sung-Sun replied.

_**Starrk**_

Starrk pulled into one of the parking spaces closest to the school.

"See yuh," Lilynette said as she got out.

"Have a good day," Starrk said and yawned as his little sister went rushing to Kiyone and Momo as they were walking up to the school.

Starrk heard someone honk and turned his head to see Harribel pull up. However, he was not pleased to see Apacci glaring at him from the passenger's side. She raised two fingers to her eyes and then pointed at him. The meaning was clear: _I'm watching you, Perv._

Starrk swallowed hard as Apacci got out. He could see that Mila Rose was also glaring at him.

_If looks could kill…_

He shook the thought from his mind and got out of his car. Harribel looked at Starrk and smiled. Starrk smiled back and then yawned. Harribel shook her head, but her smile didn't waver.

"Not a morning person, as usual," Harribel said.

"Lilynette's the one with all the energy in the morning," Starrk said.

"Perhaps she's stealing it from you," Harribel said. "Have you tried coffee?"

"Tried it and still felt tired."

As they made their way to the school's front doors they saw Ulquiorra rushing past, clutching a stack of papers against his chest. They watched as he ran to his Murciélago.

"What's wrong with him?" Starrk asked.

Harribel shrugged and then she noticed a piece of paper on one of the steps. She knelt and picked it up. Her eyes widened and then she began to chuckle.

"Uh…care to let me in on the joke," Starrk said.

Harribel held the paper up to Starrk, unable to speak because she was trying to fight back the peals of laughter that threatened to emerge. Starrk took the sheet of paper and blinked once, twice, and then his eyes widened.

"Oh," was all he could say.

_**Lilynette**_

"NO WAY!" Lilynette yelled as she looked at the flyer.

"Yes way," Kiyone said. "I made them over the past couple of nights when I wasn't working on homework."

"I have to admit, your Photoshop skills have improved," Momo said. "I especially like how you really cleaned the lines to make it look seamless."

"Thank you, thank you," Kiyone said as she bowed. "I'm sure that the subject is tearing down the posters even as we speak. So, I made more for us to put up for the enjoyment of all. Here's your pile, Monkey-Brain." Kiyone shoved a pile of the papers into Sentaro's hands.

"Hey, I didn't volunteer for this!"

"You got drafted, Goat-Face," Kiyone said. "Now be a gentleman and help a lady put these flyers up. When you're done with that, find me. I have another task for you."

"Why should I do whatever you say?" Sentaro asked.

Kiyone smiled and whispered something in his ear. Lilynette tried to hear what Kiyone was saying, but couldn't. Sentaro's face paled and he swallowed hard.

"So, will you do it?" Kiyone asked.

Sentaro nodded and walked off with his pile of flyers and the roll of tape Kiyone provided.

"So, what was that about?" Tobiume asked.

"Nothing that concerns you," Kiyone replied smiling. She looked at one of the flyers in her hands and smiled. "I would have to say this is my best work yet."

Lilynette smiled as she looked at the flyer showing Ulquiorra's glum face pasted on top of a photo of a cheerleader doing the mid-air splits. Underneath, typed out in large letters, was, "MEET THE NEW BARRY!"

"Oh, I wish I could have seen Ulquiorra's face when he saw this," she said.

_**Rudobon**_

Rudobon Chelute and the Exequias lined against the wall looking at the flyers that had been taped to the hall.

"Sir, what do you want to do?" the short, plump lieutenant asked.

"Find whoever's behind this and hand them over to Principal Luisenbarn," he said. "No one defaces school property or post unapproved documentation and gets away with it."

_**Grimmjow**_

"Man, talk about a bunch of tight-asses," Grimmjow said as he watched two of the Exequias march down the hall, stopping any who was holding one of the flyers. Grimmjow looked at the flyer in his own hand and smirked. "No wonder why Ulquiorra's in a panic."

"I forbid you to give Ulquiorra a hard time," Nel said. "He's already having a hard time as it is."

"Fine, I promise I won't give him a hard time. There, are you happy?"

"Very," Nel said as she straightened her beret. "Now, hide that thing before the Exequias see that you have one. I heard that Rudobon's having any who's in possession of more than two of the flyers brought in for questioning."

"Where's he questioning them?"

_**Rudobon**_

"Why did you bring me here?"

"You were seen carrying thirty of these flyers," Rudobon replied and put the stack of flyers on the table.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"You were planning on posting them around the school, weren't you?"

"How could I if I didn't have any tape with me, asshole?" In truth she had been planning on going into Mr. Urahara's science lab and distributing the posters by throwing them out of the window, with Kisuke helping of course.

"You will watch your language with me, Miss Emilou Apacci. Do I make myself clear?"

"Whatever," Apacci said as she crossed her arms. She looked at the shelves of cleaning supplies and the mop bucket in the corner by the floor sink. She frowned. "Why are we in the frickin' janitor's closet?"

Rudobon cleared his throat.

"I'll be asking the one asking questions," Rudobon replied.

_**Szayel Aporro**_

Szayel Aporro Granz marched down the hall whistling. He held a duffle-bag by his side, keeping it steady by his side despite his nearly skipping down the hall. He ignored the flyers displaying Ulquiorra in a cheerleader's outfit. Lumina and Verona were following close behind him.

"So, Master Szayel Aporro," Lumina said. "What do you have in the bag?"

"Oh, just a little something I've been working on for the sport's tryouts. Today's the last day and I intend to excel."

Lumina and Verona looked at each other, clearly worried.

"What do you think it is?" Verona asked.

"Don't know, but I think that it may not work," Lumina replied.

"What was that?" Szayel Aporro asked in a sing-song voice.

"We were talking about how great a genius you are, Master Szayel Aporro, and that whatever you came up with will work," Lumina replied.

"Of course it will work. I'm a genius after all."

_**Starrk**_

"I don't like this," Starrk said as he watched Szayel Aporro marching down the hall with a duffle bag that looked as though it could rip apart at any moment.

"What do you think he has in there?" Harribel asked.

"I don't think I want to know," Starrk replied and stifled a yawn.

As he and Harribel made their way to Urahara's class they saw Nnoitora and Tesla walking towards them. Starrk was surprised to see that Nnoitora decided to let his long hair cover the left side of his face.

"Oh great," Harribel muttered when Nnoitora noticed her and started strutting towards her like a rooster in a hen house.

"Hey Sweet Buns," Nnoitora said, licking his lips. "Why are yuh still hanging with this lazy-ass looser when you can have a winner?"

"Look, Nnoitora, the only thing you've ever won is an award for being the biggest pain-in-the-ass. Now, move aside before I decide to kick you where it hurts the most."

Nnoitora frowned at her and his visible eye narrowed.

"Fine, fine, I'm going. Sheesh, can't a guy walk down a hall and not get his head bitten off?" Nnoitora asked. His voice dripped with venom.

"He can if he doesn't do anything stupid like putting his head in a shark's mouth," Starrk snarled.

Harribel gave a slight start at that and looked at Starrk. She was about to ask him who told him about that, but decided to stay silent. There was only one person in the school who knew about her time before moving here. However, the look on Nnoitora's face did reduce some of her unease.

"I don't remember asking you anything, Wolf-boy," Nnoitora said glaring at Starrk. "Perhaps I should teach you a lesson about minding your own business. Hmm, I wonder if your little sister would be less of a bother."

Starrk glared at Nnoitora, one hand clutching into a fist. Before he could say anything, Harribel put a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's go, Starrk. He's not worth any trouble," Harribel said. "Anyways, if he thinks that your sister is just going to start following him, drooling like a puppy, then he's a bigger idiot than I thought."

Starrk nodded and the two walked past the tall walking spoon.

"Hey!" Nnoitora shouted after them. However, Starrk and Harribel ignored him.

_**Ulquiorra**_

Ulquiorra could tell that everyone was laughing at him. Whenever he turned his head to look at any of his fellow classmates they turned away in a hurry, hiding their smiles. He would hear a snort of laughter from nearby, and would turn in that direction only to see those in his vision working at their labs.

_Maybe it's just DiRoy and Nakeem being idiots as usual,_ Ulquiorra thought when he looked at the duo. The two were trying to see who could break up the rocks into the most pieces. Ironically enough, that seemed to be part of the object for the Geology lab, which was to identify each rock based on its appearance and hardness. The two had chuckled like lunatics at the word "hardness." Ulquiorra shuddered to think how they would be reacting when they got to Biology.

Kisuke was in his usual position on top of the desk, fanning his face and smiling. However, his smile was not as broad as it would have been if the lab involved the risk of blowing up half of the school.

"Let's see," Sung-Sun said as she looked over the rocks. "This one's obviously a piece of pyrite," she said and held up a large chunk of stone that looked like dull gold. She wrote the number on the sticker on the stone in her lab book. She was about to move on when her eyes looked at Ulquiorra's lab book and saw that he hadn't written anything down; in fact, the book wasn't even on the right page. Her eyes narrowed. "Hey, Ulquiorra, you're not paying any attention to the assignment."

Ulquiorra looked at Sung-Sun and sighed.

"I apologize," he said as he flipped through the pages of the lab book. "Uh, what page are we on?"

"We're on page twenty-four," she said. "We're identifying rocks today."

"Why should I care about identifying rocks?" Ulquiorra snarled. That took Sung-Sun completely by surprise. She had never heard Ulquiorra complain about any school work before. Something was wrong and she had a good idea of what it was.

_**Rudobon**_

"Do you know why you're here?" Rudobon asked as he paced the janitor's closet with his latest suspect.

"No, not really," his suspect replied.

"You were seen carrying three of the items in question," Rudobon's fat little underling said and held up one of Kiyone's flyers. "We want to know who gave them to you."

"Look, I took them from here and there and wanted to put them in my scrapbook," the suspect said.

"For what purpose?" Rudobon asked.

"To have a good laugh. Is that a crime?"

"There's no need to get hot under the collar," Rudobon said. "I want to make sure that we can cross you off my suspect list."

"Why would I be a suspect? Do you think I have something against Ulquiorra?"

"It's always a possibility. Now, tell me, where did you really get these contrabands?"

Before the suspect had time to answer the janitor's closet door open.

"There you are," Grimmjow said. "When I saw that stuck-up little pri—" he fell silent when he saw Rudobon. "Oh."

"Ah, hello Mister Jaegerjaquez," Rudobon said. "I was going to send for you when we finished with Miss Tu Odelschwank, but I see that you saved us the trouble. Please, have a seat."

Grimmjow moaned as the fat Exequias lieutenant escorted him to the chair in the mop sink.

_**Starrk**_

"Where's Grimmjow?" Harribel asked as she sat at the table.

"I don't know," Starrk said as he pulled out a bottle of Starbucks iced coffee. "I saw Nel being taken away by some of those Exequias guys. I guess Grimmjow went to see where they took her."

"You don't think they suspect either of them being involved with those flyers do you?"

"Well, it make sense with Grimmjow," Starrk said as he uncapped the bottle. He took a swig of the iced coffee. "Not so much with Nel."

"True, but who is responsible?"

Starrk looked to the table where Lilynette was sitting with Kiyone and the rest of her crew. For a moment they looked like military commanders planning an attack.

_Or like a bunch of trouble-makers planning trouble,_ he thought. _Sheesh, they might as well hold up a sign saying "Guilty as Charged."_

"I have a good idea," Starrk said, "but I would rather not say anything."

Harribel looked at Lilynette's table and smiled.

"Well, let's make sure not to get caught with any of those flyers."

"At least not for a month," Starrk said. Harribel gave a small snort of laughter.

"How about a whole semester? I don't think Rudobon and his group would forget this after a month."

"Hey, there you are," Cirucci said. "Skullak, I found them. Hey, where's Grimmjow?" Cirucci asked as she sat down.

"He probably got abducted by Rudobon's little Spanish Inquisition," Skullak said as he sat down. "Rudobon's trying to find out who's been putting up these amusing flyers." Skullak put one of the flyers in question on the table. "I never thought that Ulquiorra would join the cheerleading squad."

"Don't let Rudobon see you with that," Starrk said. "He may respect you, but he takes his job as hall monitor a little too seriously."

Skullak laughed a little and then nudged Starrk. Starrk looked to where Skullak was pointing and saw Szayel Aporro with his usual band of followers. Starrk suppressed the urge to roll his eyes when he saw that the pink-haired mad scientist in the making was carrying the bulky duffel bag.

"What do you suppose he brought this time?" Skullak asked.

"Don't know and don't care," Starrk said, "just as long as he doesn't try to blow up the school again."

"What if he ends up blowing himself up?" Cirucci asked. "Perhaps he might create an explosion strong enough to send him into space."

"You're horrible," Harribel said. "What if he accidentally bumps into a satellite and disrupt the TV signal while _Downton Abbey_ is on?"

"Then Szayel Aporro better watch out," Skullak said. "Cirucci loves that show and she'll be more than happy to get into a rocket just to kick his ass."

"You better believe it," Cirucci said, cracking her knuckles. "No one keeps me away from my beloved Matthew Crawley."

"I thought I was your beloved," Skullak said.

"At any other time, you are, but not when _Downton Abbey_ is on."

"Sheesh, must you hurt me so?" Skullak asked.

"Oh keep quiet," Cirucci said. "I don't give you a hard time over your 'beloved Ygritte.'"

"Ouch, now I know what a knife in the back must feel like," Skullak said.

"I doubt you would even feel it enter into your back."

Harribel paled when she saw Mordrath standing next to their table. He looked at her and smiled.

"Tia, I didn't see you there. How have things been?" he asked.

"Fine," Harribel said. "How are you enjoying your new surroundings?"

"I'm getting used to it," Mordrath replied. He looked at Starrk. "Ah, I should have realized that wherever she is then you wouldn't be so far behind. It's amusing seeing you trail her like a little puppy." Mordrath's smile widened. He leaned over and whispered, "Tell me, Tia, where are your three protectors. Are they lurking under the table again?"

Harribel flinched slightly. There was no way they would actually do such a thing.

"Apacci, Mila Rose, Sung-Sun, what are you doing under there?" Cirucci asked.

_No way,_ Harribel thought. _There's no way they would actually…_

Harribel looked under the table and saw her three amigos hiding under the table. They had spread their lunches between them. They turned in Harribel's direction and their faces paled. Apacci put on her best attempt at an innocent smile that was as real as a six dollar bill.

"Uh…hi, Miss Harribel," Sung-Sun said.

"Tell me," Harribel said, "how long have you three hidden under the table at lunch instead of sitting in the seats like normal people?"

"I told you it would be too obvious if we hid under the table," Mila Rose said.

"Oh really? It was your idea to do this?" Apacci said.

"If I recall, this was your idea, Lame-Brain," Mila Rose said.

"What did you call me?" Apacci snarled.

"Would you two please stop? This is not the place to get into a shoving match," Sung-Sun said.

"SHUT UP, SUNG-SUN!" Mila Rose and Apacci yelled in unison.

Harribel sighed and straightened. She turned to Starrk who was looking rather uncomfortable at the prospect of Apacci and Mila Rose being under the table close to where he was very vulnerable to attack.

"Sorry," Harribel said. "It would appear that Mila Rose and Apacci have gone overboard again."

"When haven't they?" Starrk muttered, hoping that the two girls were too busy with their argument to pay him any attention.

"I must say, it's good to see that you found such passionate…protectors," Mordrath said as he sat down. He reached into his messenger bag and brought out a black lunch bag with a roaring dragon on it. "I see that you've found good friends this time, unlike the old ones."

Harribel stiffened. She could feel the others looking at her. Apacci's head popped from under the table, followed close behind by Mila Rose and Sung-Sun. Apacci and Mila Rose glared at Mordrath who only returned their glares with raised eyebrows.

"Is this creep bothering you, Miss Harribel?" Mila Rose asked.

"If he is then we'll be more than happy to take a page from Nel's book and tie this creep to the flagpole by his heels," Apacci said.

"Sorry ladies, but I hate being upside down," Mordrath said. "It could cause brain damage."

"Gee, that explains a lot," Mila Rose said and glared towards Nnoitora.

"Miss Harribel, what is he talking about?" Sung-Sun asked.

Harribel looked at Mordrath, anger burning in her eyes.

"It's nothing," she said.

"Oh, I would say that it was more than 'nothing,'" Mordrath continued. "Weren't they part of the reason why you came here in the first place?"

Harribel stood. Her upper lip was quivering and threatening to become a snarl. Her hands balled into fists.

"Bel," Starrk said, getting to his feet.

"I need to go," Harribel said as she left the lunchroom.

"Bel, wait," Starrk said, going after her.

Mordrath looked around. Cirucci, Apacci, and Mila Rose were eyeing him with murder in their eyes. Skullak and Sung-Sun only looked surprised and curious.

"Well, I seem to have opened that proverbial 'can of worms,'" Mordrath said and took a bite from his sandwich.

_**Harribel**_

Harribel rushed down the hall, putting as much distance between her and the others as possible. Tears burned her eyes. However she did not look where she was going and so ran into Ulquiorra who was rushing down the hall, pulling down more of the flyers. They crashed into each other, sending the large pile of flyers into the air to flutter back to the ground.

"Ow," Harribel moaned as she sat up. "Watch where you're go—" She stopped when she saw Ulquiorra on all fours, gathering the flyers. "Ulquiorra, what are you doing here?"

"I am trying to get rid of these obscene things," he replied as he reached for more of the flyers. He looked up at her and saw how red her eyes were. "I see that you're not having a good day either," he said.

"It was a good day," Harribel said.

"Then what changed it?" Ulquiorra said.

"Nothing," Harribel said. "Here, let me help," she said and started gathering the flyers.

"Thank you," Ulquiorra said. He looked around. "Where is Starrk? I usually see him with you."

"I just…needed to be alone," she replied as she picked up more of the flyers.

"I understand," Ulquiorra said. He sighed. "Look, I know that your friends think that I'm a stuck-up brat who won't have any real friends. Sometimes, I think they may be right."

Harribel looked at Ulquiorra. She recognized the look in his eyes. How many times had she looked in a mirror to see that same look staring back? She put a hand on his.

"Ulquiorra, don't sell yourself short like that. Sure you may be a bit…awkward when it comes to dealing with people, but…I can see that you're a nice guy. Maybe if you were nice to others…"

"Who would you suggest? Grimmjow? He always hated me. He hated me because I come from money and he doesn't. He hates me because my father is still around."

"Why would he hate you because of that?" Harribel asked. She thought of all the times Grimmjow was with him and he never talked about his family.

"That's for him to talk about if he chooses to," Ulquiorra said. "I will not betray the few secrets he has."

Harribel opened her mouth to say something.

"Well now, what do we have here?" a voice asked from behind them.

Harribel and Ulquiorra looked to the source and saw one of Rudobon's Exequias blocking the hall. His face was as unemotional as usual.

"This isn't…" Ulquiorra began.

"The evidence says otherwise," the Exequias said. "Come with me. Commander Rudobon will be very interested in this latest development."

_**Starrk**_

Starrk rushed down another hall. He had lost Harribel at the third set of intersecting halls. He slowed to catch his breath.

"Shit," he panted, "how can…she…run so fast? Was…she on…on a track team?"

He leaned against the lockers, bracing himself.

"Starrk?"

He turned and saw Nel and Grimmjow.

"Oh…hey…uh…where have you two been?"

"With Inspector Tight-Ass," Grimmjow said. "What are you doing here?"

"Searching for Harribel," Starrk answered.

"Starrk, did you do something to hurt her feelings?" Nel asked. Her eyes narrowed.

"Nel, why would I hurt Bel?" Starrk said.

"Well obviously something disturbed her," Nel said.

"It was probably something that the new guy mentioned," Starrk said.

Nel and Grimmjow looked at each other.

"What exactly did he say?" Grimmjow asked. "I mean, seriously, it's not like Tia was one of those _Girls Gone Wild_ types?" Nel struck him in the shoulder. "Ow, why'd you do that?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter," Nel said. "Of course Tia wasn't like that."

"Well, it seemed that she was with the wrong crowd," Starrk said. "At least that's what the new guy hinted at."

"Oh Starrk," Nel said and took hold of his hand. "No wonder why she got upset. It's obvious that there are things in her past that she doesn't want known."

"Who doesn't?" Starrk asked and looked at Grimmjow.

"Yeah, I mean, who gives a shit if she made a mistake in her past?" Grimmjow asked. He clasped Starrk on one shoulder. "All that matters is that she's got you. Right?"

"Yeah," Starrk said and smiled. "Besides, whatever happened before she came here is in the past."

"Now you're talking," Grimmjow said and slapped Starrk in the back. "Now, let's see if we can find your lady fair."

Starrk blushed.

_**Harribel**_

_How did I end up in here?_

Harribel sighed as she looked at her surroundings. She heard that Rudobon had set up his make-shift interrogation room in the janitor's closet, but could not have imagined what he did.

_How did he get that desk in here?_

"Miss Harribel," Rudobon said from the other side of the desk. It wasn't one of the smaller student desks. This one was a proper desk complete with filing drawers. "You know why you were brought here?"

"I can guess it has to do with those flyers," Harribel said.

"You and Ulquiorra were brought in because you were found with around fifty of the flyers," Rudobon said. "We just want to make sure that neither of you were intending to post them on school property."

"Uh-huh, and do you have permission to do this from Principal Luisenbarn? I don't think he would be too happy about this," Harribel said.

"I talked with Principal Luisenbarn this morning," Rudobon said. "He told me to find the culprit when I have the time."

"Figures," Harribel muttered as she thought about Baraggan's opening speech. "But why bring in Ulquiorra? Why would he distribute the very flyers that are making him a laughing stock?"

That gave Rudobon pause. He looked at Ulquiorra who was sitting in the chair in the mop sink.

"You do have a point on that. Mister Schiffer, you are free to go. I am terribly sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused," Rudobon said.

"What about Miss Harribel?" Ulquiorra asked. "I can vouch that she had nothing to do with the flyers posted around the school."

"Then why did she have a whole bunch of them in her hands?" the fat underline asked.

Harribel jumped a little. She forgot that he was right behind her.

"She was helping me to gather them to dispose of them," Ulquiorra said. "We want to keep our halls clean of unauthorized materials, don't we?"

Rudobon nodded.

"Well, it's good to see that some of my fellow classmates wish to keep our school nice and clean," Rudobon said and rose. "Miss Harribel, I do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. I will be sure to tell my Exequias that you and Mister Schiffer are not the ones we seek."

"Thank you," Harribel said and rolled her eyes as she and Ulquiorra walked out of the "interrogation room."

"I'm sorry that you got dragged into this," Ulquiorra said. "There was really no need for you to try to help me."

"Well, at least we got that mishap shorted out before the bell rang," Harribel said. "You would think that Rudobon has something better to do with his spare time instead of kissing Principal Luisenbarn's ass."

"It would appear that he doesn't," Ulquiorra said. As they walked down the hall the bell rang. Ulquiorra sighed and started to walk away from her. "We better get to our next class."

"Hey, Ulquiorra," Harribel said. Ulquiorra turned. "You should have lunch with us some time. Nel and I will make sure that Grimmjow doesn't give you a hard time."

"Thank you for the offer," Ulquiorra said. "I shall keep it in mind."

"Fair enough," Harribel said. "Well, I better find Starrk. I'm sure he's worried."

_**Nnoitora**_

The halls were filling up with students getting ready to go home after another day of classes. Nnoitora grinned when he saw Ulquiorra walking towards his locker. He had been waiting for this moment. The number of students around only made the moment all the sweeter.

"Tesla, did you do what I asked?"

"I did, Master Nnoitora," Tesla replied. "Are you sure you wish to do this?"

"Oh, I am," Nnoitora's grin became even larger. "Now, keep quiet."

Ulquiorra removed the combination lock and lifted the tab to unlock the locker. However, as soon as he did, an avalanche of Kiyone's flyers and cheerleading uniforms that Tesla had procured in secret came rushed out of the locker. Ulquiorra let out a yell of surprise as the avalanche struck him. Students in the halls began to laugh and point at Ulquiorra who was struggling to get free from the deluge, a sport bra rested on the top of his head.

"Fuck yeah!" Nnoitora shouted. "Hey Ulquiorra, don't you think you ordered a little too many uniforms?"

Ulquiorra's usually pale face turned bright red with embarrassment. The sight only made Nnoitora and the others laugh all the harder. Nothing could diminish the glee he felt at seeing someone else being on the receiving end of a prank.

That was when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Tell me, Nnoitora, did you have anything to do with this?"

"Fuck off, Nel," Nnoitora snarled and turned to face the girl. "I don't see why you…" He trailed when he saw that she was accompanied by Loly and Menoly.

"So, that's where all of the uniforms went off to," Menoly said.

"Yeah, but how did they get there?" Loly asked and glared at Nnoitora. She cracked her knuckles. "Do you have any idea, Shit Face?"

"Hey, don't look at me," Nnoitora said. "I had nothing to do with this."

"Is that so?" Loly asked. She turned to Nel. "Nel, how about we keep Nnoitora back for the last rounds of cheerleading tryouts? I seem to recall that there was a certain cheerleader we haven't seen in quite some time."

"I don't see why not," Nel said. "I'm sure that certain people will be happy to see the lovely Spoon Cheerleader again. Who knows, maybe we can make flyers."

"A lovely idea," Loly said, grinning. "Menoly, help me get Nnoitina ready for her tryout."

"If you say so," Menoly said.

"Now wait a minute," Nnoitora said, backing away from the advancing girls. "There's no need to…"

He turned, ready to run.

"YAMMY, SNATCH HIM!" Nel shouted.

Nnoitora felt a large hand grab him.

"Uh…are you sure?" Yammy asked as he hoisted Nnoitora in the air by his hoodie. The students who had been laughing at Ulquiorra were now gazing upon this new show unfolding before them. Their eyes glittered with glee.

"Let me down," Nnoitora snarled. "Let me down you stone-brained idiot!"

"Now, now, that's not very nice," Nel said, smiling. "Yammy, please take him down to the gymnasium. I'm sure that Cuuhlhourne and Luppi are already down there, waiting to make him beautiful."

"WHAT?! NO! NO! NOT THOSE FREAKS! ANYTHING BUT THOSE FREAKS!" Nnoitora shouted. He then heard the laughing around him. "WHAT ARE YOU FUCKS LAUGHING ABOUT?" Nnoitora shouted. "STOP LAUGHING AT MEEEEE!" he shouted as Yammy carried Nnoitora down the hall.

_**Szayel Aporro**_

"Now, the time has come," Szayel Aporro whispered as he stood on the basketball court. "Lumina, Verona, I'll need your assistance to get this on."

The two rotund assistants leaned in to look at what lay in the duffle bag. They looked at each other with similar WTF expressions on their faces.

_**Starrk**_

Starrk was busy snoring on the bench while the final rounds of basketball tryouts occurred. He was glad that he got the tryouts out of the way so that he wouldn't have to bother with it again.

"You're still asleep?"

Starrk opened one eye and saw Skullak looking down on him.

"Yeah, what's the big deal?" Starrk asked.

"Szayel Aporro is about to reveal his latest invention," Skullak said. "He made the announcement right before Ukitake could say anything."

"Leave it to Szayel Aporro to be dramatic," Starrk said and sat up. "Where is his royal pinkness anyways?"

Skullak shrugged.

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about Nnoitora," Skullak said. "He got dragged away somewhere by the cheerleaders."

"Agh, Nnoitora's wet dream comes true," Starrk moaned. Skullak smirked.

"I bet that his wet dream will become a nightmare," Skullak said. "Cirucci didn't tell me much, except to stick around after tryouts. The other cheerleaders are passing the word. That's why the parking lot is still kind of full."

"What about the Exequias? I'm sure that they got the word too."

"Nah, they're too busy trying to find the culprits behind those flyers," Skullak said. "I doubt anything would deter them from that."

"Do they have any idea of who's responsible?" Starrk asked, nervous that somehow Kiyone got found out and it would cause Lilynette to get in trouble.

"Are you kidding?" Skullak said. "They're probably the only ones who don't think that Kiyone is behind it."

"Huh?" Starrk asked. "What do you mean?"

"Are you joking?" Skullak asked. "All of the students think that Kiyone is the one behind it because she's always carrying that camera around. However, there's no real evidence to link her, at least there's no evidence that the Exequias are getting. In that regards, she's in the clear."

"Well, at least Lilynette won't get dragged into that janitor's closet."

"Make sure you call it the 'Interrogation Room' when Rudobon is around. He's grown rather attached with it."

"That will probably not be a good thing for Mister Rureaux," Starrk said. "How's he going to get to the cleaning supplies if Rudobon turns it into the Exequias' base of operations?"

"ALRIGHT, PREPARED TO BE AMAZED!"

Skullak and Starrk turned to where the shout came from. Their jaws dropped and their eyes bulged.

"What…the hell…is that?" Starrk muttered. Skullak only shook his head in reply.

Standing in the middle of the basketball court was Szayel Aporro Granz dressed in pink workout clothing. Strapped to his back was a device with four long limbs with a metallic claw at the end.

"Hey, Pinky, what is that thing?" Ggio asked.

"Ggio, what are you doing here?" Starrk asked. "I thought you were trying out for football."

"Changed my mind," Ggio said. "Anyways, that's not important. The important thing is," he pointed at the device strapped to Szayel Aporro's back. "Is that thing going to blow us all up to kingdom come?"

"I hope not," Starrk said.

"Don't be ridiculous," Szayel Aporro said. "This is going to be the key to victory. These tentacles are retractable and can reach up to thirty feet. All that I need to do is get in range of the basket with the ball in one claw and we get an instant score."

The boys looked at each other and then at Mister Ukitake.

"Uh…I don't think that's allowed in…" Ukitake began.

"A demonstration is needed," Szayel Aporro said. He clapped his hands. "Lumina, bring me two basketballs."

Lumina came rushing out with two basketballs. Szayel Aporro reached to his sides and took out what looked suspiciously looked like the controls for an X-Box.

"Oh boy, uh…I think we should back away from him," Starrk said.

All of the others, including Ukitake, had the same idea and they began to back away from Szayel Aporro.

"Lumina, throw me the balls."

Lumina threw the basketballs at Szayel Aporro. The limbs started to writhe and move; two of them reached out and grabbed the basketballs. Everyone cleared a path. No one wanted to get even close to the tentacles. However, Starrk was amazed that the device actually caught the basketballs without blowing up.

_Holy shit,_ he thought, _Doc Ock actually made something that works!_

The tentacles reached out to the closest basket and dunked both basketballs in. The others stood aghast, unable to believe what they just saw. Szayel Aporro Granz actually made something that worked. They burst out in applause. Szayel Aporro raised his arms in victory.

That was when the device began to malfunction.

_**Grimmjow**_

Grimmjow was prepared to receive the football when there came a loud crash from the outdoor basketball court.

"What the Hell?" Edorad whispered.

"Stay where you are," Kenpachi said. "I need to check this out." Grimmjow looked at the slasher smile that spread on the coach's face and smiled. If something chaotic was going on then he wanted to see it for himself. Grimmjow ran after the coach.

_**Starrk**_

Starrk dodged as another basketball went flying past him.

"STOP THAT THING, YOU PINK-HAIRED FREAK!" Ggio yelled from behind the chain link fence.

"I CAN'T!" Szayel Aporro shouted. "IT'S OUT OF…" One of the tentacles reached behind him and gave the pink-haired scientist an atomic wedgie.

Starrk winced at the sight. He was sure that it was bad enough to receive a wedgie under normal circumstances, but to have your own invention give you a wedgie and show off your pink briefs had to be the ultimate insult.

"HEY, PINKY, NICE PANTIES!" Sentaro shouted and then jumped aside as another of the malfunctioned tentacles came in his direction. It went soaring past him and straight into the bushes. Kiyone and Momo rushed out of the bushes, screaming. However, Kiyone made sure to snap off a few photos as she was running.

"I thought he said that those tentacles only had a reach of thirty feet," Skullak said.

"When have you ever trusted Szayel Aporro with his measurements?" Starrk asked. The two had to duck as another tentacle whipped through the air above their heads.

"Well, it could be worse," Skullak said.

"How can it get any worse?" Starrk asked.

"Szayel Aporro could have painted it pink to match his underwear," Skullak replied.

_**Nelliel**_

Nelliel admired the work that Cuuhlhourne and Luppi put into their little project. The girls present in the equipment storage shed were laughing extremely hard at the sight before them. Nnoitora, however, was screaming.

"GET ME DOWN!" Nnoitora roared from the chair he was tied to before Loly slapped some duct tape over his mouth. Cuuhlhourne and Luppi were busy decorating the ball cart and its occupant with Kiyone's new flyers with Nnoitora's face in place of Ulquiorra's and came complete with Nnoitora's signature spoon-shaped hood. This time the flyers said, "SEE OUR LOVELY NEW MASCOT!"

_I'll have to thank Kiyone for making these on such short notice,_ Nel thought. _I don't know how she does it, but that girl is a genius._

"Alright, I think that should do," Nel said. "Now, let's show off our little mascot."

"Hm nah r lil mahot," Nnoitora struggled to say through his gag.

"What was that?" Nel asked. "You want to be our little mascot? Oh, well that's so sweet of you." She grabbed the handle of the cart and began to push. "It's time to make your debut."

_**Rudobon**_

He could not understand it. He had questioned all of his initial suspects and none of them could have possibly done it. The only one with any possible motive was Grimmjow, but he doubted that Grimmjow had the skills necessary to pull off an operation of such magnitude. He slammed a hand on one of the hundreds of flyers.

"Then who is responsible for this deviant behavior?" Rudobon grumbled.

The door to his interrogation room flew open and one of the Exequias came rushing in.

"Sir, sir, there's a situation."

"What kind of situation?" Rudobon asked. His initial fear was that Principal Luisenbarn was tearing up his office from the failure of finding the culprit. Principal Luisenbarn liked to keep a clean campus and no one could defile it, except for Principal Yamamoto from Seireitei High.

"It's…Szayel Aporro," the Exequias reported. "He's tearing up the basketball court."

"By 'tearing up the basketball court' do you mean that Szayel Aporro is showing that he's actually good at a sport, because if you are…"

"No, sir, he's literally tearing up the court."

Rudobon's eyes widened. This was the last thing he needed.

"Hey kid," Zommari Rureaux said from the doorway. "You need to get this stuff out of here so that way I can do my job."

"Mister Rureaux, there is a…"

"I need you to move it _now_," Zommari said. "I'm going to need it pretty soon. Oh, and I also need one of your minions to tell Mister Luisenbarn about the situation." There was a roar of rage coming from downstairs. Rudobon winced and Zommari only sighed. "Never mind the last part. I think he already knows."

_**Grimmjow**_

Grimmjow and Coach Zaraki were practically jumping for joy at the devastation that Szayel Aporro's invention was causing. Chunks of asphalt and lengths of chain link were flying through the air. The metal tentacles were waving with uncontrollable abandon, slicing through the concrete. One of the poles was now lying on its side while the other was extremely dented with the backboard with as many holes as a slice of Swiss cheese. Mister Ukitake was hiding in the equipment shed along with most of the others who were trying out for the boys' basketball team.

"Grimmjow, what are you doing?"

"Oh, hey Starrk," Grimmjow said when he saw Starrk running up to him. "I see you got a safe distance from that thing. I was just enjoying the show. Oh man…I can't wait to see the look on Principal Luisenbarn's face."

"I don't think you want to," Starrk said. "He could easily turn his Respira on you and give you detention for a month if he thought that you tampered with Szayel Aporro's invention."

"How could I? I don't know how the fucking thing's supposed to work," Grimmjow said. "Besides, even if I wanted something to go wrong with one of Pinky's crazy ideas, I doubt I would need to do anything."

"Good point," Starrk said. "Although I doubt that the Principal would care if he even suspected that you had anything to do with this."

Grimmjow chuckled and returned his attention to the destruction that Szayel Aporro's invention was causing.

One of the only things that could cause Grimmjow's focus to turn away from the destruction of the outside basketball court was seeing Nel embarrassing Nnoitora. Another was having someone tap him on the shoulder.

"Ugh…Starrk," Grimmjow moaned, "I told you I doubt…" He trailed off when he saw Nel smiling at him. "Nel, what do you want?"

"Oh, I thought you might enjoy seeing the triumphant return of our school's unofficial mascot," Nel said. She moved out of Grimmjow's line of sight to reveal the lovely Spoon Cheerleader in his chariot. Nnoitora's eyes widened and he began to struggle against his bonds with renewed fervor.

"Nel," Grimmjow said smiling, "this just made my day even better. How about we spread the joy to everyone?"

"My thoughts exactly," Nel said. "Now, who should I…" That was when she noticed the tentacles waving in the air and smashing into the concrete, creating more craters. "Oh wow, Szayel Aporro is really ripping up the court."

_Lame,_ Starrk thought.

At that moment, the doors to the school were flung open. Baraggan Luisenbarn came running out of the school, his grey jacket fluttering behind him. His white hair was wild and his eyes were wide.

"DAAAAAAMN IIIIIIIIT!" he roared. He ran past Nnoitora in the ball cart without even noticing him or the new flyers that had found their way on the walls, thanks to Kiyone's posse. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANTZ!"

"What do you want, bro?" Yylfordt, who had made his way from the football field to see what was going on, said.

"Not you," Baraggan growled, "your brother." Baraggan pointed at the flaying tentacles to make his point. "He's responsible for this and he will pay. YOU HEAR ME, SZAYEL APORRO? YOU WILL PAY DEARLY FOR MESSING UP MY BEAUTIFUL SCHOOL!"

"Man, I think he really means it," Starrk whispered.

Yylfordt shrugged and noticed Nnoitora.

"Wow, bro, I see that you're starting to get in touch with your feminine side." Yylfordt took out his iPhone and took a picture.

_**Lilynette**_

It took about thirty minutes for the batteries in Szayel Aporro's invention to finally die. By the time it was done, the outdoor basketball court looked as though it had gone through an artillery barrage. One of the four tentacles had wrapped itself around Szayel Aporro and had been squeezing him like an anaconda. Lumina and Verona were busy trying to free their master.

However, the main center of attention was Nnoitora. Lilynette was pleased to see that Momo and Tobiume had been doing their part of spreading the joy through Kiyone's new flyers. Mobile phones with built-in cameras were taken out and photos were taken. Lilynette saw Ulquiorra heading towards the parking lot with a slightly pleased look.

_Well, for someone who was suffering earlier, he's doing fine,_ Lilynette thought.

"Hey, Lilynette," Kiyone whispered, a smug look on her face. "Look at Rudobon's entourage." Lilynette saw members of the Exequias rushing about, unsure of where to put their focus. Some were focusing on the damaged basketball court while others were focusing on the new flyers. Rudobon looked overwhelmed. "They're not going to be able to think straight for a week after today."

"It's kind of nice seeing those brown-noses in a panic," Lilynette said. "I'm surprised that Rudobon didn't call any of us in for interrogation today."

"Well, they have a hard time seeing what's right before their eyes," Kiyone said and held up her camera.

Lilynette smiled. The Exequias only paid attention whenever trouble arose, but they never paid attention to the mundane aspects of the students. If they had, then they would have realized that Kiyone was head of the school's photography club and would have questioned her first.

"I doubt they'll change," Lilynette said.

"Ready to go?" Starrk asked.

"Yeah," Lilynette said.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Kiyone said.

"You bet," Lilynette said. Kiyone nodded and walked towards the buses.

Starrk looked at his little sister. She could tell that he was hoping that it wouldn't be anything that could get her into trouble.

"Don't worry," Lilynette said. "We're just going to see a movie tomorrow and go out for lunch. Sort of like what you and Harribel are planning." Lilynette gave him a sly smile. Starrk rolled his eyes.

"It's not a date," Starrk said. "Besides we're going with Nel and Grimmjow."

"Ooh, a double date."

"It's not a date."

"Me thinks thou dost protest too much," Lilynette said.

"It's not a date."

_**Grimmjow**_

"I don't think that Ulquiorra will have to worry about his reputation anymore," Nel said.

"Not as long as Nnoitora's lovely Spoon Cheerleader makes the rounds on Facebook and the school hallways," Nel said.

**End of Chapter 8**

**A.N.: I'm back! Sorry for the long delay, but life has dealt me a lot of bad hands over the past few months. **

**I'm kind of on the fence about this chapter. On one hand I think it turned out better than I expected, but I think some of the scenes could have been better. I hope that you, dear readers, enjoyed it overall.**

**Anyways, I would like to devote this chapter for darkmachines since it is getting put up for his birthday. Happy Birthday, darkmachines!**


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